How to Play an Electronic Keyboard
| An article from Electronic Keyboards and Digital Pianos
| | An electronic keyboard consists of black and white keys grouped into octaves of 12 keys each. A 61 key keyboard will have just over 5 octaves. The
notes in an octave are:
C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B
where the black keys are the sharps (#) and the white keys the rest (naturals). As you look at the keyboard you will see the black keys within an
octave in a group of two and a group of three.
The first thing to do is to find middle C. On 61 and 76 key keyboards middle C is the white key immediately before the 3rd group of two black keys
from the left hand edge, on an 88 key keyboard middle C is the white key immediately before the 4th group of two black keys from the left hand
edge.
Now you have found middle C you can play the C scale. The scale of C is played using just the white notes in an octave, 8 up from middle C, then 7
back down to middle C - C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C then B,A,G,F,E,D,C
For the first exercise lets just play the first five notes. Place your right hand on the keyboard with the thumb on middle C and the next four fingers
on D, E, F, G and play each key in turn starting with your thumb on C, when you get to the end play the keys in reverse order F, E, D,C.
The reason I said to just play the first five notes is that's how many fingers you have, if you try to play any more you'll run out of fingers. So
here's how to play the whole octave.
Place your hand on the keyboard as before, but this time play the first three notes (C,D,E) then pass your thumb under the fingers until it rests on
the next note (F) and bring your hand over the top. Play F with your thumb then the rest of the notes with the other fingures in turn. When you get to
C reverse the order and play the next the next four notes (B, A, G, F), then bring your middle finger over the top and play E, then the next 2 notes
(D, C) with your first finger and thumb.
It's not as complicated as it sounds, practice until you can do this easily and you will have learned something you'll use continually as you learn to
play.
This is just the very first step. To play the keyboard successfully you need to learn to read music, to play at the correct tempo, to understand how
to play chords etc.. If you are the sort of person who needs one to one lessons then ask around and find a good piano teacher. If you can motivate
yourself and keep going when it gets tough then check out the piano courses available on-line. Most of these will take you from being a complete
beginner to a competent pianist. Read the reviews and compare before you sign up for one as you will be putting in a lot of work and you want it to be
time well spent.
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