Left hand piano notes can be difficult to learn and play especially if you are right handed. An 8 year old piano student was playing a piece with several different right hand treble clef notes and a left hand bass clef note. When he came to play this left hand note he had difficulty reading and finding the note and hence playing it.
The Left Hand Note in Question
I asked him “If you are at home and can’t find this note what would you do to help you?
His response:
1. Ask my sister ( who also learns the piano )
“Anything else,” I asked.
2. Look at an earlier page
3. Look on the computer
I asked him, “What would you type in to find this note?”
He said “piano notes”
I suggested “left hand piano notes”
And he then said “images”
So I suggested he do all of the above before this before next lesson.
Firstly
Why Do People Find Piano Notes Difficult to Get?
Here is some information on notes and two main reasons.
Information on Notes
Notes are written on or above or below the stave which are the 2 sets of five lines, one for the right hand and one for the left hand. We call the notes written on the lines line notes and notes written between the lines space notes. The positioning of the notes tells the reader exactly what the note name is and which key to play.
This is learnt step by step, in the process of learning the piano, whether you are doing it yourself or with a teacher.
Two Main Reasons
1. Difficulty in Reading What The Note Is On Sheet Music
Here are three reasons why a student can have difficulty in finding a left hand piano note.
- Not playing much or at all between lessons. Practise and playing helps the memory of note reading. This is probably the most common reason.
- Learning difficulty eg dispraxia , dislexia
- Being young: There is a lot of learning going on for a 5 and 6 year at school. Maybe they can’t remember which hand is right and which is left and therefore get muddled at finding and playing these notes correctly.
2. Not Knowing or Remembering Which Key Represents Which Note
Notes are given names and these are the first 7 letters of the alphabet, A B C D E F G. In music we call this The Musical Alphabet. The notes A B C D E F G are found in relation to the black keys eg all C’s are found directly to the left of the group of two black keys. Students learn this step by step.
When you read sheet music you need to look at the positioning of the note and play the key it represents. Sometimes people can remember the key to press down from the positioning on the stave, but they cant remember the name of the note. Sometimes people know the name of the note but play it in the wrong octave eg the left hand note is a G and the student plays a G up high where the right hand plays.
Secondly
How Did the Student Find Left Hand Piano Notes in the Lesson?
I could not do point 3 ( from the responses at the top ) as there was no internet. But if I could here is an image example.
Left Hand Piano Notes
Have a look at the following two methods to find the left hand piano notes.
1. Find the Note from an Earlier Page in the Book
This is following point 2 from the top of the page.
I thought this would help the student more if he could work it out himself rather than me just play it to him and he copy. The latter would be like in point 1, which was Ask His Sister ( or in fact you could ask anyone in the know).
Here is a picture from an earlier page in the book.
C 5 finger Pattern in top image
To find the left hand piano notes the student needs to look at his note in question ( same as the top image of this blog ) and find the same note on the top diagram from the picture above. Then look upwards to see the note name which will be on the piano key to play.
Then I would get the student to play the note and then play and repeat the piece he is learning.
Why People Have Problems With This
Some younger students have trouble tracking there eyes across from one place to another.
Some students have trouble if the note in question actually looks different than the note in a diagram.
Explanation of this:
The difference is in the note length but not the note name. Notes are played for different time lengths and there needs to be a sign to tell the musician how long to play a note for.
The note in the top diagram is a four count note, whereas the notes in the computer diagram are one count. And this confuses some students. It is just a learning process to remember this.
2. Using Line Note and Space Note Sayings
Sayings for the line notes and space notes are used to help find piano notes.
Look at the pictures below which represent the line notes and space notes of the bass clef for left hand.
You say the words from the bottom line or space note upwards and take the first red letter as the note name.
Line Notes Space Notes
Good Boys Deserve Fruit Always All Cows Eat Grass
G B D F A A C E G
You can come up with your own sayings
Line Note Sayings
Space Note Sayings
Once you have found the positioning of the note from the sheet music to the keys then you play it in context with the exercise or piece you are playing. And then carry on learning more pieces.
This Book has the piece in question which my student is learning and more.
Answer to the Left Hand Piano Note in Question is…
G
Did you know this ?
Remember to Play Play Play
To help the memory Repeat Often On Different Days of the Week and those left hand piano notes will be as easy to find as the right hand piano notes.
And if you would like extra help in finding these left hand piano notes then contact me here.