Meeting the Keys!

This week I focused on the absolute basics of the piano, learning the names of the white keys, finding Middle C, understanding finger names, and a easy song with 4 notes. My goal this week was to get comfortable finding notes quickly and using proper hand positioning to prepare for playing simple songs.

Main Resources Used This Week:

• Flowkey
• Simply Piano

This Weeks’s Process:

 This week I decided to use my tech tool for my weekly blog post called Flowkey. This website/app provided a simple easy to use introduction to the piano. Through this I learned:

• To start by proper posture. When sitting at a piano, you should be sitting up in an upfront comfortable position. Your fingers should be parallel to the keys when you place your hand in middle of the piano. Your elbows should be pointed slightly outward. When you move your arms outward, your elbows can work together with them so your arms can open up.
  

  Source: Lessons on The Web. Does Posture Make a Difference in Your Piano Playing. https://www.pianolessonsontheweb.com/blog/does-posture-make-a-difference-in-your-piano-playing

• It gave me a great tip on hand posture. When I first tried playing I noticed I would play notes with my hand slightly straight. Flowkey taught me to slightly bend my fingers and hand. Pretending to hold a small ball!

Source: Pdm piano http://www.pdmpiano.org/prelim_p004_1_hand.html

• There is a key called Middle C that is the main starting point when playing. It’s the white key just to the left of the group of two black keys near the middle of the key
• The white keys are named after the first 7 letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. For this process, I first learned C, D, E, F, G.

  Once I learned these incredible tips on Flowkey. I switched my learning to SimplyPiano. Through SimplyPiano I learned:

• Playing rhythm of the keys I learned to get the hang of how to move my fingers to different keys. On SimplyPiano it asked for me to play the rhythm CC, DD. Than progressively got more challenging, DD, C, DD. My first couple of tries it it took me a while to figure out how to read the written notes while looking at the keys where my C or D was. However, I eventually got the hang of it.
• SimplyPiano encouraged my to try my first song! Say Something written by A Great Big World

   

  This screen recording is SimplyPiano listening to me play. Below is my Piano it is listening to!

Thoughts of Learning Process This Week!

This week I learned a lot about the basics of the Piano! Both apps Flowkey and SimplyPiano has made this week learning the piano way more engaging and accessible. I liked the break down complex concepts into bite-sized, interactive lessons that I can follow at my own pace. It felt as though I was being taught a lesson by an actual teacher. I loved how SimplyPiano gave me instant feedback when I played, helping me correct mistakes right away, while Flowkey offered a more relaxed, visual way to learn songs with real-time guidance and sheet music.

Learning the piano online can work and I encourage for everyone to try! Both educational apps this week made practicing feel less like homework and more like a game – and that’s kept me motivated. Technology has definitely made learning piano from home easier and more fun than I expected.

NEXT WEEKS GOALS: Learning how to read notes and draw them on a staff!