Piano Playing for Week 3 Blog from A G on Vimeo.
Like I mentioned in an earlier blog post, the fingerings still really confuse me. It is hard for me to get adjusted to them, but I guess that is expected since I am learning piano for real for the first time. I was really wondering about why it matters where you place your fingers. I asked my mother (who plays piano) and she said that where you place you fingers helps you play the notes the easiest/most comfortable way. But if the where you place your fingers is supposed to be the easiest/most comfortable way and that way is not the easiest/most comfortable way for me, does it really matter with which finger I play each note? One thing I noticed is that my stronger fingers, such as my pointer finger, play notes louder and stronger than my weaker fingers, such as my pinky finger. My thoughts on why the fingerings matter is that maybe the composer wanted to accent or emphasize certain notes, so it would make sense to assign those notes to the stronger fingers, while the weaker fingers could play the notes that the composer wanted to be played softer. After all, dynamics are the main reason why the piano was invented!In addition to playing the piano, I also did a bit of research about the history of the piano. I actually found out some pretty interesting things. The piano is based off of the harp. In the olden days, they had the harp, but they could not control the dynamics of it. They needed to invent an instrument on which they could control the volume, so they could put expression into their music and performances. Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori fixed this problem by inventing the piano in his harp shop in Italy in 1709. One of Cristofori's original pianos, from 1720, is currently on display in Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (see picture below).
Sources:
"History of the Piano." Pianonet. National Piano Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. <http://pianonet.com/all-about-pianos/history-of-the-piano/>.
"How to Place Your Fingers Properly on Piano Keys." WikiHow. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. <http://www.wikihow.com/Place-Your-Fingers-Properly-on-Piano-Keys>.
When my mom tried to teach me to play piano when I was younger, your finger complaint was one I had, too! And I like your point about the comfortableness of the placement. Maybe they're more of a guide for beginners so they know to use all their fingers and not "hunting and pecking" for the next note. You'd have to be a pretty good composer to have your music work so that the softer notes are always under your pinkies. :P
ReplyDeleteSometimes I have the same problem with violin. My teacher would insist that I play something in third position when I was just fine in first. It does help occasionally.
It seems like you are making a lot of progress with your piano playing! Seven songs in a week seems pretty good to me! I do not know much about the piano and I like how you are incorporating your thoughts and pondering how composers use different fingers to create diffeent sounds. I think it was good for you to not only learn how to play the piano, but learn the history about it as well. I never knew that the piano was based of the harp. I can't wait to see your songs next week!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Ari I'm glad that you are making great progress! I remember when I played piano (I used to be all into it but I quit a couple years ago) that I mostly played hits notes with my strong fingers like the pointer and middle finger. This is for the treble clef notes, where you play one note at a time mostly. You don't have to try to keep your right hand in its position. You can be crossing over your fingers like if you go up the notes. For my left hand, you do use a lot of your fingers when you hit chords, but you get used to it as you keep practicing! Also, interesting fact on the creation of pianos. I didn't know that!
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