Piano & Keyboard All-in-One For Dummies
Explore BookBuilding a musical scale
- They’re eight notes long.
- The top and bottom notes are an octave apart, so they have the same name.
- The series follows a stepwise pattern up and down, and the name of each note in the scale follows the alphabet up and down.
- The scale’s bottom note, called the tonic. For example, a C major scale starts on C.
- The stepwise pattern used to create the scale. Music has two kinds of steps — half steps and whole steps — which are the building blocks of scales. The “major” part of C major means the third note of the scale is a major third interval above the tonic.
- Two keys side by side (whether black or white) are one half step apart.
- Two keys separated by one other key (black or white) are a whole step apart.
- Two half-steps equal one whole-step.
The suffixes sharp and flat are used to name the black keys. When you measure half steps up or down, you help define the black keys as sharps and flats. For example, find any D on your keyboard. Move one half step higher and play the black key to the right. That’s D sharp. Now play one half-step lower than D. That’s D flat.
You can build any scale starting on any root note simply by applying the correct scale pattern, or combination of whole (W) and half (H) steps.- Major scale: Tonic-W-W-H-W-W-W-H
- Minor scale: Tonic-W-H-W-W-H-W-W
Proper posture for piano practice
- With the floor and the bench or chair providing your support base, align your body so your torso, shoulders, neck, and head are fully supported from underneath.
- With both feet on the floor, and with your knees directly above your feet, sit evenly on your sitting bones so you feel a strong, stable support for your upper body.
- Don’t let your weight fall back; bring the back of your pelvis (your hip bones on the sides and sacrum in the back) up above the sitting bones, and continue this line of support up through your spine to the top of your head. Your spine has four curves; it takes careful awareness and support in both the front and back to balance and feel centered throughout your upper body.
- Keep your head supported above your spine; don’t let it drop or lean in any direction. If you’re hunching, slouching, or leaning, you’re going to have to use your muscles and energy to compensate for the imbalance.
- Release your shoulders if they’re holding any tension, and let your arms hang to the side.
- As you breathe in, feel the full length of your upper body from the sitting bones to the top of your head.
- Breathe out and feel a relaxed, stable balance throughout your body.
The electronic keyboard family
-
Digital pianos: Acoustic piano wannabes or replacements.
-
Stage pianos: Digital pianos intended for the performing musician, with additional sounds and pro features.
-
Portable keyboards: Fun, lightweight, and full of features to help you sound better.
-
Arrangers: Keyboards with sophisticated backing features to produce the sound of a full band from your simple chord input.
-
Organs: Instruments dedicated to reproducing the sound, features, and feel of the legendary Hammond B3. They may include some additional sounds such as pipe organ, combo organs, and even other keyboard and synth sounds.
-
Synthesizers: Keyboards that allow you to make your own sounds and adjust the sounds provided. They can sound the most electronic and imaginative but now often include imitative and natural sounds as well.
-
Workstations: Basically, synthesizers with onboard recording systems to allow you to create complete works of original music. Very advanced and feature-rich.
-
Controllers: Keyboards that don’t make sound themselves but are used to trigger sounds from your computer and other keyboards. These options use the MIDI standard to communicate with the sound-producing devices.