Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman
and in our lesson today we're going to learn a new major pentascale G major.
Let's come to the piano to start learning.
Now, you already know the C major pentascale.
Can you point and sing the solfège with me?
DO RE MI FA SO
And we've also already learned about half steps
In every major pentascale,
we've got a half step here between MI and FA.
A half step is two keys with no key in between.
So let's actually give these a special color
to remind us that these two pitches, MI and FA
are the half step.
That's really important, because when we want to transpose to a new pentascale, like,
let's move up to the D major pentascale,
we need to keep this half-step
there which is why in D major
we have to use F-sharp
to keep a half step between MI and FA.
Today though, we're doing the G major pentascale.
So let's slide DO up to G,
and taking a look at this,
can you tell me if the half step is correct here.
It is! You can see that MI and FA naturally fall on these two white keys
B and C
which happen to have no black key in between.
So it's already a half step.
Now let's point and sing the solfège now with DO on G.
DO RE MI FA SO
It goes a little bit high.
Now let's point and sing the letter names.
Can you say the letter names with me? Go.
G
A
B
C
D
Good, now try that by yourself. Point and sing the letter names, go:
Good, remember in the musical alphabet the letter after G is A
and then it starts over A B C, and we get up to D.
So, just like the C major pentascale,
the G major pentascale
uses all white keys, because we have this half step naturally on the two white keys.
Now, on your own piano see if you could place your right hand
in position for the G major pentascale.
So your finger 1 is on G now,
and let's try and play 'Chocolate'.
Ready, go:
♫Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum,♫
♫chocolate I have some.♫
Good, now let's try that with your left hand.
So left hand finger 5 we'll find a G,
and let's play 'Chocolate', ready, go:
♫Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum,♫
♫chocolate I have some.♫
Good.
Now, pause the video, and I'd like you to find three different G major pentascales
on your own piano.
You can go really high, really low, or somewhere in the middle,
and play 'Chocolate' in three different places. Try and use right hand and left hand.
Then press play to go on.
Now let's try playing our finger power exercise 'Stepping and Skipping'
in G major.
You can try right hand alone,
or left hand alone, or you can try both.
We're going to go about this speed:
♫Stepping up, and stepping down, and skipping up and down♫ Then we'll finish with a chord.
Okay? Choose right hand, or left hand, or both hands, and let's try to play together one
1 2, you know what to do:
♫Stepping up, and stepping down, and skipping up and down♫
Play a chord.
Good, now, a few reminders about your good piano posture.
Remember that you want to use arm weight, and kind of feel like your hand is dropping
on the key. So you're using gravity to help. You're not just using finger motion,
you're using the weight of your arm to kind of drop into the keys.
Also make sure that your fingers stay in a nice curved shape.
You don't want the knuckles to bend backwards or the joints to bend backwards like this,
keep it curved right down to the tip.
I kind of like to think of my wrist as being a little bit springy almost like a trampoline
I'm bouncing on as I play.
So let's try 'Stepping and Skipping' one more time,
and really focus on your piano posture.
make sure your pinkie doesn't play flat,
but that it stays near its tip just like your other fingers.
Get in position,
and ready, go:
♫Stepping up, and stepping down, and skipping up and down♫
Play a chord.
Now for fun let me show you another way that you can add variety
to this finger power exercise of 'Stepping and Skipping'.
I've been showing you what's called similar motion, where our fingers are going
in the same direction.
That's called similar motion.
There's also something in music called contrary motion,
where fingers go in opposite directions. So we start on finger 1,
and go: ♫Stepping out, and stepping in, and skipping out and in♫
Now try that with me. Just use your fingers up in the air,
and try going in contrary motion. Ready, go:
♫Stepping out, and stepping in, and skipping out and in♫
And then you can play the chord.
So, finger 1 begins,
and it sounds like this: ♫Stepping out, and stepping in, and skipping out and in♫
Chord.
So, this week as you're practicing in all the pentascales we know so far, C major,
D major, G major,
try both similar and try contrary motion.
In D major it would look like this:
♫Stepping out, and stepping in, and skipping out and in♫ Chord.
Okay? Pause the video and try contrary motion in G major
and D major.
For bonus you can also try it in C major.
Okay, pause the video, try contrary motion, and then press play to go on.
Now, to finish up today, I'd like to introduce you to one of my favorite
practice tools as a pianist.
That is the metronome.
This is actually the metronome I used when I was a kid to practice the piano, and I still have it.
You know, some people keep their stuffed animals from when they're a kid. I keep my metronome.
It's going to be a long trusted friend of yours.
I recommend now if you haven't already bought one, that you purchase a metronome.
There are also apps that you can use from like a smartphone or tablet
have metronomes built in,
or you can get a standalone device like this.
What does a metronome do?
Well, I'll show you.
Most metronomes have a kind of dial
where you can choose the speed in beats per minute.
Like, you'll see all these little numbers, and I've set mine to 88, actually I'm going to set it to 84
beats per minute. Then when you turn it on,
it gives you a click and a flash
that keeps a steady beat for you at whatever speed you set.
The higher the number,
the faster the beat.
You go to a really low number like 46,
you get a very slow beat.
Now, why use a metronome?
It's a great way to practice keeping a very steady beat.
I've set mine to 84.
That's a good practice speed.
When I practice a new song or piece,
I use the metronome to help me really master that steady beat,
and then sometimes I'll gradually increase the speed
speed so I can learn to play faster too.
This week, I'd like you to start somewhere around 80, 84, 88,
and maybe as you get better you can up it to maybe 100,
or even 120,
but always start with the slow steady speed,
and then use the metronome to gradually increase.
I have a rule for myself
that if my piano posture isn't totally correct,
and if I don't have all the notes
correct, a hundred percent correct, I don't speed it up.
But once I've mastered it with great piano posture at a slower speed,
then I know I'm ready to increase the speed.
if you haven't already find a metronome, find a metronome app, or purchase one like this,
and try out practicing along with the metronome.
If you're having trouble keeping with the beat, step one may be just practicing
clapping to the beat,
or stomping your feet to the beat.
Just see if you can keep with that beat.
You know, try different speeds. Clap with me.
See if you can match the beat.
Or a really slow speed.
Okay, that's a good way to get started with the metronome.
And then with your finger power whenever you practice 'Stepping and Skipping'.
Just try and play one note per click.
I wouldn't worry about trying to use the metronome with your songs that you've learned like
"Let Us Chase the Squirrel", because those songs have more complex rhythms,
I prefer that you just play by singing along with yourself or using our backing track from the practice album.
But for a very simple exercise like 'Stepping and Skipping', that's a great chance to use the metronome.
So I don't recommend using metronome with your songs,
but I do for doing this finger power exercise.
Great work learning how to play the G major pentascale today. Remember,
only practice on days that you eat.
Thanks for watching, and see you next time!
Hmm, what's this?
Mr. Hoffman's metronome!
I'll give it a try.
Nice slow sp--yep, pretty slow
Let's uh, try something else.
Yeah, that's, oh, elephant. Nice calm speed
See what happens with this.
Little lively, yeah.
Alright, let's really crank it up.
Scuba: Aaaaaa
What?
Looks like he could use a hand.