Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman, and today we'll be working on some finger power.
Today's focus is F major. We'll be doing two octave scales, arpeggios, diatonic chords, and inversions.
Let's get started with our finger power workout.
So in F major today, which has the key signature of one flat, B-flat.
So take a second with me and on your piano can you just play all of your B-flats?
Let's find every single B-flat and play it on your piano.
As you're playing scales in a key, I like to kind of just keep in mind where all my sharps or flats are.
So that's the one you want to keep track of. So almost pretend like this B is hot lava
because I'm never going to play that B. I'm always going to play B-flat instead. So this white key will never play. It's
like it's electric hot lava. Gotta just skip over it.
Let's actually start with our left hand today.
Why? Well the left hand uses the standard fingering. I call it the standard fingering for scales.
It's the same fingering we use for many of the other white key scales,
and that's 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 1.
Let's practice that in groups. So try this with me. Take your finger 5
on a low F on your piano. Here's my middle C. I'm going to come down quite a bit below that.
Octave and a half below that.
Play your finger 5, then let's do a group of four.
Your finger 2 is going to be on that B-flat.
Group of four, then a group of three, and do this with me.
So fingers 1 2 3, then fingers 1 2 3 4,
then fingers 1 2 3.
Okay, then play that group of three again, then a group of four, then a group of three.
Then a group of four,
and then finger 5.
It's very helpful to think of those groups. So as you're playing the scale you can think: here's 4 3 2 1,
and then 3 2 1, then 4 3 2 1 3 2 1, then three, then four, then three, then four, and you're done.
Pause the video and work on the left hand two octave F major scale, then press play to go on.
Now, the standard fingering for the right hand when you're playing a two octave scale is 1 2 3 1.
Now, you'll notice that going from a 3 to a 1 landing on a black key is super awkward.
You can try playing it yourself. It's like really uh, it's uncomfortable and awkward.
So, we have a different fingering for F major because there's a black key that lands on that fourth note.
What we're going to do is instead of starting with a group of three we're actually going to switch things up
and start instead with a group of four first this time. So we'll go 1 2 3 4,
and since we did a group of four, now we'll have to do our group of three,
and then we can start over again with another group of four, another group of three, and then we can top it off with our finger 4,
and so our finger 5 never plays at all in this scale.
So let's try it in groups. Play a group of four. Now we're using right hand: 1 2 3 4,
then try a group of three,
then try a group of four.
Then try a group of three, and then play finger 4 on top, then do a group of three, do a group of four,
do a group of three,
and finish with a group of four.
Now pause for more practice with that. If I was going a little too fast
you can pause and do that some more on your own.
Otherwise, here's what it's going to look like to put that together into a regular scale: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 4 3 2 1.
Pause the video and work on the right hand two octave F major scale, then press play to go on.
Now it's time for arpeggios. Let's go back to the left hand our fingering for the left hand is: 5 4 2 1
4 2 1 2 4 1 2 4 5. That's the standard fingering.
The right hand is also the standard fingering. We don't have to worry about black keys because we're on the F major triad.
All white keys: 1 2 3 1 2 3 5 3 2 1 3 2 1
Pause the video and work on left hand F major arpeggio two octaves, right hand F major arpeggio two octaves, then press play to go on.
I want to mention one thing about your piano posture as you're working on your scales and arpeggios,
and that's to avoid what I call the chicken wing elbow.
As you're like crossing over, sometimes your elbow
will want to do this to kind of help your hand do the finger crossover.
And you want to avoid that. Number one it looks really weird,
and number two it means that you don't have a flexible wrist. With a flexible wrist, you can manage those crossovers
without elbow motion, and when you want to play really fast scales someday, you don't have time to be,
you know, flapping your elbow around that much. To be able to play fast scales, you need a flexible wrist.
So let's try this together. Can you just take the wrists of both your hand and let's make fists.
And then just roll in little circles like this.
This way and then reverse it. Go the other way.
Reverse it again.
This should be a nice stretch. You can even hold your hand straight up.
High in the air. Other way.
Okay, now as you're playing scales and arpeggios,
your wrist is going to have to make subtle motions, and so if you stay flexible, like when you cross over notice
how your wrist is having to make a little subtle shift.
It's not something your elbow is helping with.
It happens in the wrist.
So work for a really smooth arm
and subtle motions in a flexible wrist
so you can have a really smooth technique as you play your scales.
Now let's tackle our diatonic chords.
So remember, we take each chord in the key starting with our I chord.
Let's play and name these together. Try this with me, and let's go ahead and use both hands.
F major I chord. Now, where would we go for the ii chord?
Remember, for our diatonic chords everything steps up,
but remember this B is hot lava because it's a B-flat.
So if we were in the key of C, we'd step up here, but since that B is hot lava we're making that a B-flat.
So there's our ii chord. Try it with me. G minor ii chord, and we're going to name these out loud.
And then we step up to our next chord. A minor iii chord.
Then step up again. Remember B is hot lava so it's B-flat major IV chord.
Then step up again, C major V chord.
Step up again, D minor vi chord.
Can you figure out the vi chord?
If you're playing here, you're correct E G B-flat
Is the E diminished vii chord.
And then finish with the F major I chord.
Pause the video if you need more practice with those, but we call those the diatonic chords.
And then I challenge you after you play your diatonic chords every day to make up a chord progression.
Like you can go, okay let's start with the I chord,
maybe go to the IV chord, then maybe the ii chord,
then maybe the iii chord.
I kind of like that sound. I chord, IV chord, ii chord, iii chord.
Just try mixing up the chords in different patterns and find a chord progression you like, and then you can improvise with it.
Make up different rhythm patterns, different accompaniment patterns.
Just have some fun. You can do the blocked chords in the left hand while your right hand plays a melody.
Okay, see I was just making up a melody in the key of F major. Remember B is hot lava.
As you're improvising, use any of those notes from F major
as you use some chords from your diatonic chords. And then you're making music in the key of F major.
Last of all, choose one of your diatonic chords from F major and use it to practice inversions
For example, what if we picked the ii chord, right, which was our
G minor. How would we do inversions with this?
We'd play that, then I'd take the G and put it on top.
Remember, on first inversion for the right hand we use finger 2
and then finger 3, finger 3 in the middle, come back and let's repeat that, then come back
finger 2 for first inversion, finger 3, and then you can try broken too.
Then we'll do it in the left hand.
Three in the middle, first inversion. Also finger 3, then finger 2 for second inversion, finger 3.
Repeat, come down, finger 2 on second inversion, finger 3 in the middle for first inversion,
and then you're there.
And then you can do broken for the left hand too.
Okay, but you don't have to choose the ii chord, you could have chosen the IV chord or the
the vii chord. That weird E diminished chord could have been what you do inversions with.
Okay, just make sure you're using the correct fingering. The tricky thing is to remember which chord
you use finger 2 on. It's first inversion for the right hand.
In the left hand, it's second inversion. Trust me, that's the fingering you really want to train
for correct technique. It will help you out in future more advanced pieces to learn those correct standard fingerings.
Now as you're practicing your F major finger power this week, remember the metronome is a great tool.
Choose a speed.
You can challenge yourself. Can you play it two notes per click no missed notes?
TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI
You know, and if you're missing a note every time, slow it way down.
TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI TI-TI
it only counts if it's correct fingerings, no missed notes, and then gradually speed it up a little bit at a time
until you're playing the scale nice and fast.
You want to go for smooth and even.
Great work today with our finger power workout doing F major scales, arpeggios, and chords, and inversions.
I recommend starting out your practice every day with some finger power.
This week, keep reviewing F major until you feel like you have it mastered,
and also maybe choose one or two other keys that you've learned in the past to review too.
Happy practicing, and see you next time!
Let's come to the piano to start learning how to play the left hand part.
So, first thing you, what?
Who put bananas all over the piano keys?
How am I going to teach now?
Oh, hi Parrot. Did you happen to leave a bunch of bananas on my piano?
Okay.
Oh, I know! Monkey?
Hi Monkey.
I'm fine thank you, and you?
Oh, I see. I'm sorry to hear you've been feeling bored today and didn't have anyone to play with.
Okay, so you thought it would be fun to hide spiders and Princess's salad?
And then you mixed some mayonnaise in Chef's batch of whipped cream?
And then did you decide it would be fun to put bananas all over my piano keys?
Monkey, look carefully. Do you think maybe it was you who left the bananas all over my piano?
Hmm, well
first let's work together to clean up these bananas, and then we should probably go say sorry to Princess and Chef.
And to make things better, why don't you offer to make Princess a new salad and we can make Chef, help him make some new whipped cream.
And then you know what I think you need?
I think you need something useful to do.
Once we're done cleaning up and making things right with Princess and Chef, do you want to help me teach a lesson?
Great. Okay, let's get to work.