Piano Practice
Primary 6 · Creative Arts
Piano Practice
Lesson 1 of 5
30 min
Let's begin
Mutesi's school has one keyboard for a class of forty pupils. "How can we all practise?" she asks.
Her teacher smiles and hands out strips of card, rulers and pencils. "Today," she says, "every one of you will make a keyboard of your own."
You can practise everything in this unit on any of these:
Pianists number their fingers the same way on both hands: thumb 1, pointing finger 2, middle finger 3, ring finger 4 and little finger 5. In printed music, small numbers above or below the notes tell you which finger to use. (Long ago, some British music books marked the thumb with a cross and numbered only the fingers, 1 to 4. Today the whole world uses 1 to 5.)
Rest your hands on your desk in the curved shape. Tap each finger in turn and say its number: 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1. Then try 1 3 5 3 1, and 5 4 3 2 1. Do it with each hand alone, then with both hands at once.
Tip
Thumbs are number 1 on both hands. In C position both thumbs point in towards middle C, and both little fingers are on the outside.
Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.
Which finger is number 4?
Answer: The ring finger, on either hand.
In right-hand C position, which key is under finger 3?
Answer: E.
In left-hand C position, which finger rests on the C below middle C?
Answer: Finger 5, the little finger.
Your paper keyboard has 15 white keys, each 2 cm wide. How long is it?
Answer: 30 cm (15 × 2 cm).
Counting from the left end of your paper keyboard, which white key is middle C?
Answer: The 8th white key.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
The paper keyboard plan, the hand and keyboard diagrams, the warm-ups and the practice questions were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
Match each finger to its number. It is the same on both hands.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
