Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Are you having a tough time reading piano notes for the left hand? (Or are you a piano teacher who have students that can’t read the left hand notes?) Many piano students quit piano because of the hurdle of reading two different clefs. Color coding can bridge the gap and help piano students master the instrument. Keep reading to learn about playing piano with color coded left hand notes.
Don’t have a music keyboard? Not a problem! Try this online keyboard:
I wrote the post, Playing the Piano with Color Coded Notes, as a practical example of color coded music.
- It shows how the different color coded elements work together to help students learn.
- However, it only deals with the notes played by the right hand.
- Today’s post will focus on the left hand.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
Playing Piano with Color Coded Left Hand Notes: Why Color Coding?
Why play piano with color coded left hand notes? Because musical notation is counter intuitive.
- Siu-Lan Tan found that non-musicians usually thought that music notation would function the opposite way than it does in actual practice.
- This means that beginning students will often struggle to grasp how the sheet music works.
This goes double for ADD, LD, ASD, and special needs music students.
- George L. Rogers found that color coded notes allowed LD and special needs students to score better than typical learner students.
- However, they failed to read the music at all with the color coding absent.
- Nevertheless, color coding doesn’t need to be limited to LD and special needs students.
For more on color coding read:
The Hand Position and Playing Piano with Color Coded Left Hand Notes
Mobile users: for best results reading the music, tilt your screen 90o to the right.
Hand Icon (churien.deviantart.com/art/hand-template-blank-272630198) by Churien is licensed under CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0). Modified by Geoffrey Keith.
Before you try to play piano with color coded left hand notes, we need to talk about fingering.
Here’s the left hand fingering for G position:
- First Finger: The thumb goes on the D (gray) key
- Second Finger: The pointer finger goes on the C (orange) key
- Third Finger: The middle man goes on the B (blue) key
- Fourth Finger: The ring finger goes on the A (purple) key
- Fifth Finger: The pinky goes on the G (green) key
Color coding the instrument and the fingers pulls everything together:
- For instance, the student presses the purple finger, on the purple key, reading the purple note in the score.
For further info:
Merrily We Roll Along and Playing Piano with Color Coded Left Hand Notes
As you attempt to play piano with color coded left hand notes, say and play the note names to a steady beat.
- In addition, say and play the finger numbers (the black numbers).
- Clap and count the rhythm (the red and blue numbers).
For a review of counting rhythm read:
In addition, I’ve included a sound track for Merrily We Roll Along.
- Don’t listen to the track before you attempt the song.
- Instead, listen to the sound track after you’ve tried the song to see if you got it right.
Your core skills for early piano lessons:
- Notes
- Fingering
- Rhythm
Playing and saying the notes and finger numbers works on note and finger skills respectively. Clapping the notes develops your rhythms skills.
Merrily We Roll Along:
Playing Piano with Color Coded Left Hand Notes: Quiz
Once you’ve mastered the Merrily We Roll Along version of playing piano with color coded left hand notes, you can attempt the quiz. Be sure to say and play the notes.
Conclusion
The more you play piano with color coded left hand notes, the more you’ll gain self assurance.
Eventually, students will graduate from the color coding, including most autistic, LD, and other special needs students.
© 2022 Geoffrey Keith
Join me for in-person or online lessons today!
Glossary
How Do Guitar Harmonics Work?
So, you play an open string, and it gives you one note. You play the harmonic over the 12th fret, and you get another note. You do the same thing over the 5th and 7th frets, and you get still more notes. However, they don’t relate to the frets at all. You scratch your head, wondering, “How do guitar harmonics work?” Don’t worry, you just need to understand how strings vibrate. Read more to answer the question, how do guitar harmonics work? Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
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Is Just Intonation Impractical?
Are you thinking about composing in just intonation? Do you worry that just intonation is impractical? As with any tuning system, just intonation has its strengths and weaknesses. We’ll look at the pros and cons, and when you’ve gone through the post, you can make up your own mind. Read more to help you answer the question, “Is just intonation impractical?” Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
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How Can Legato Notes Be Played Staccato?
How can you make a note be long and short simultaneously? How can legato notes be played staccato? Mozart created a mixed staccato/legato notation to use in his piano pieces, and it still confuses musicians to this day. Click to answer the question, “How can legato notes be played staccato?” Estimated reading time 2 minutes.
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How Supplemented Equal Temperament Minor Keys Work
Frustrated with your out of tune synth chords? Do you want your brass, woodwind, and string programs to sound better? It’s not only the program you select which controls how your synth sounds, the tuning has an impact as well. I created Supplemented Equal Temperament (SET) to produce chords that sound better in tune than equal temperament (the piano’s tuning). Read more to learn how SET minor keys work. Estimated reading time 5 minutes.
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