sound from the keys (you may need to adjust the seat height or sit on a book to get things just right)
4
Sit on the front half of the bench or chair so that your weight is positioned forward toward the keyboard
5
Position yourself so that your knees are slightly underneath the keyboard
6
Keep your feet flat on the floor If they don’t touch put some books or a step underneath them
7
Use rounded hands to strike the keys—hold your wrists above the keyboard and arch your fingers down toward the keys
That’s it! Now you look like a rock star!
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Now that you look cool at the keyboard you’re just five steps away from playing your first song! Here’s how:
BCDEFGABDEFGABCDEFC
MIDDLE
is the C key nearest the center of the keyboardMiddle C
1
Cut out the color-coded labels on page 65 or 67. Be sure to set aside the red “Middle C” label, because this one is special. The letters on the labels represent the musical notes on the keyboard. So, red labels represent C notes in music; yellow labels represent E notes; blue labels represent G notes; etcetera.
TIP: To make the labels last longer, ask your parent or teacher to laminate the sheet of labels before cutting them.
2
Attach the “Middle C” label to the keyboard. It’s the one nearest the center of the keyboard that’s shaped like an “L”. You can use tape or removable blue putty to secure the label.
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Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
4
Again referring to the diagram, place your hands in the correct position for playing the song. Then, shift your attention to the song and begin to play, pressing the keys with the colors and using the correct finger as shown.
3
Once you have attached the Middle C, follow the diagram on the top of the pages for the song you want to play to attach the rest of the color-coded labels.
TIP: Put any loose labels into a covered container and tuck them into a drawer or your piano bench for storage.
5
Have fun! Once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to play a ton of new songs Look for me throughout the book—I’ll be giving you extra tips and tricks so you’ll become even more of a rock star as you go
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there are
there are
beats in the measure
For example if you see:
The top number tells you how many beats are in each measure (Ignore the bottom number for now)
staff is marked
Before you dive in and play your first song I want to tell you about a few things you’re going to see in the pages that follow
First you’ll notice that each song is shown on a series of five horizontal lines This set of lines is called a staff You don’t need to worry about this yet—your focus will be on the colors—but the music notes get placed on the staff and represent specific keys on the piano
Next the staff is divided into individual sections each separated by a vertical line Each section between the vertical lines is called a measure These measures help divide the song into smaller bits that make it easier to learn how to play
There’s also something called the time signature The time signature tells you how to count the music
beats in the measure
there are
beats in the measure
Thewith horizontal lines
Themeasure is marked with vertical lines
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1
Follow the diagram below to attach the color-coded labels to the keyboard.
2
Starting with your left pinkie and ending with your right pinkie, play each colored key one at a time.
3
Do the same thing again, only backwards: start with your right pinkie and play each note until you reach your left pinkie.
4
Repeat steps 2 and 3 a few times until your fingers feel nice and loose. Do this every time you sit down at the keyboard.
Now let’s try some exercises
Professional rock stars always warm up before their gigs Here’s a cool way for you to warm up too—the scale
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