Keyboard recognition is important for all musicians Please scroll down the page for the download links. This final keyboard, below, is very sharp-looking, but I don't use it much because I try to avoid print jobs that demand lots of heavy black ink! Your own purposes may have a special use for this graphic, though: Over a period of weeks (and months of follow-up), it starts to become natural! I frequently have to remind them not to stiff-handedly 'splash' the donut into the milk, but gracefully bend the wrist. (As I mentioned above, this idea comes from FJH's My First Piano Adventur e, Lesson Book A Pre-Reading, which is full of cute and effective ideas for beginners.) This reinforces not just the piano key's location and name, but also a flexible wrist motion. Make a technical exercise out of it, for fun

So, all week long at home, they start their piano practice time by 'dipping donuts' on all the D's.įirst one hand, then the other, strikes each D on the piano, from left to right, then back down again right to left (or the other way around - some free spirit always wants to do it backwards, and it really doesn't matter! (This exercise comes from one of the cute FJH Piano Adventures books.) This exercise, known as 'Dipping Donuts,' requires shaping the 1 and 3 fingers into a round hole like a donut, then pretending to 'dip' it into an imaginary glass of milk, using a smooth wrist action. The first week they write in all the D's, and the piano players practice a hand exercise to go with it.Īn opportunity to practice a flexible wrist

G = Grandma (who is the first person you meet inside GRANDMA'S house)Ī = Ants that are hiding in Grandma's house - or it could be 'A' for 'Auntie'.ĭ = the Dog (which is inside the DOG house)įor the first few months of their lessons, they must fill in the piano keyboard paper one key-name per week. My students get to know the key names this way: the 3 black keys are 'Grandma's house,' and the 2 black keys are 'the dog's house.' The piano keyboard is the Rosetta Stone for all musical instruments! I feel the electronic tuner should come LATER, after they understand how the piano keyboard relates to the strings and frets of the guitar. It is much more meaningful than using an electronic tuner. Yes, guitar! I write the names on the appropriate piano keys for the guitar strings - E, A, D, G, B, E - and that is how they learn to tune their instrument. I use 'blank' paper keyboards with all my beginner piano, violin, voice and guitar students. My graphic designer cleaned up the keyboards a bit, and they print beautifully! Guitar players also need to understand the piano keyboard

My newest printer, a very basic Canon model, doesn't have a lot of finesse with sizing, and I have found that I only get a good print copy now by going to my own book, Songs Old & Songs New, and using the keyboards found there. Even if I DO change settings, such as to 'fit to the page', I might still be clipping off the keyboard on either side. I may forget to change my printer settings, and end up with an unusable sheet. Printing in 'landscape mode', or horizontally, is always an opportunity for me to WASTE PAPER AND INK.

Here is a student who has placed a little animal on each G# key. It's a BIG DEAL when we've gotten through all the white keys, and turn our attention to those mysterious black keys, with the double names. 'This week, I want you to write in all the D's, in pencil, and play every D, etc.', so that we keep returning to the paper piano keyboard layout week after week. I used to assign kids the entire paper to fill in the first week, but gradually I've come to assign just one note name per week, and stipulate that at home, they are to strike every one of THOSE keys up and down the keyboard every day. (As long as 'ghost images' don't remain behind!) You might also find it useful to laminate one of the online piano keyboards below, and allow your students to write on the keyboard with an erasable felt pen, to use the keyboard over and over. If you choose to print out this particular piano learning guide for your students (or yourself), I suggest laminating it, or using wide tape to cover the important parts of the page! INK IS SO EXPENSIVE, and we music teachers seem to need a lot of it.

Sheet music to piano key chart