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Playing the Piano

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Volume 1

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Introduction
Basically, for starters you should just play chords with your right hand, as time goes on you can begin to
invert the chords and do all sort of other stuffs. For now we shall be playing major chords with our right
hand.
Check the diagram below:

A chord is a combination of three or more notes to bring about harmony. The diagram shows us how a
chord is played in the key of C. That is the C major chord or you can call it the doh chord.
C = doh
D = reh
E = mi
F = fah
G = soh
A = lah
B = ti
C = doh

Letters are used in two places on the piano

1. When we are talking about a key of a song: Different songs are performed on different keys, it
might be on the key of C, F, Fsharp, Gflat e.t.c

So if a singer is playing on the key of C, I would be playing on the key of C.

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2. The second scenario it is used in is when we are talking notes like d,r,m,f,s,l,t,d.
Now let us bring out the major scale from the key of C.
C D E F G A B C
D R M F S L T D
Now, how did I derive it, I used the principle of tone and semi-tone.
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used
So a semitone is like moving from C to Csharp(check the diagram above for reference)
A tone is like moving over one note for example like moving from C to D(check the diagram
above for reference)
So how do we use the tone and semitone principle to derive the major scale. Check it out below:
T = tone
ST = semitone
C
d

D E F G A B C
r m f s l t d
t t st t t t st

Now let me interpret the table above,

Between doh and reh, there is a note which is C sharp( that is what makes it a tone distance)
Between reh and Mi, there is a note which is D sharp (that is what makes it a tone distance)
Between mi and fah there is no note( that is why it is a semi tone distance)
Between fah and soh there is a note which is F sharp(that is what makes it a tone distance)
Between Soh and Lah there is a note which is G sharp (That is what makes it a tone distance)
Between Lah and ti there is a note which is A sharp (that is what makes it a tone distance)
Between ti and doh there is no note(that is what makes it a semitone distance)
The black keys are called accidentals on the key of C, they are just like any other key on the
piano, it just depends on the key you are playing. Just imagine that all the keys on the piano are
all white keys, you wont be able to distinguish between the notes, so the black keys make it
easier to to identify and get yourself familiar with the keys.
So on the Piano we have
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C#/Db

D#/Eb

F#/Gb

G#

A#/Bb

The # and b are the black keys when playing on the key of C. When playing on any other key, the
#s and Bs may be white keys or black keys.
Remember that # are pronounced as sharp, while b are pronounced as flat.
Work to do
Derive the major scale from the key of C#, F# and A.

Make sure you get the C# correctly because, the remaining part of the lesson will be on C#

Playing with the right hand

Basically, for starters you should just play chords with your right hand, as time goes on you can begin to
invert the chords and do all sort of other stuffs. For now we shall be playing major chords with our right
hand.
Playing major chords on the right hand

The major chords are majorly played with the thumb, middle and pinky finger.
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C# = doh
D# = reh
E#/f = mi
F# = fah
G# = soh
A# = lah
C/B# = ti

Dms=CEG
Rfl=DFA
Mst=EGB
Fld=FAC
Str=GBD
Ldm=ACE
Trf=BDF
Dms=CEG

Doh

Reh

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Mii

Fah

Soh

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Lah

Tii

All the chords are played with the right hand, the thumb, middle and pinky finger.
Playing with the left hand
When playing with the left hand, its like you are using the left hand to accompany the right
hand, so the left hand might not do much of movements. Check the diagrams below:

Inverted Doh

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Inverted reh

Inverted mi

Inverted Fah

Soh

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Lah
Combining both the left hand and the right hand
Whatever chord you play on the right hand, you should play the corresponding chord
inversion on the left hand.
Work to Do
1. Work on your left hand by playing all the chords from d r m f s l t d; play it over and over
again.
2. Do the same on your left hand by playing all the chords over and over again
3. Now play both the left hand and right hand together at the same time.

You can even play chord progressions at the same time, like Doh Soh Lah Fah.