Hello, and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman.
Today we're going to learn another finger power exercise.
It's called stepping up and down the black keys.
This one uses the same pattern of hand over hand that we used for black key smashes.
Let's review that pattern.
So remember we are going to start with our left hand.
Just say it with me and let's move our hands. Go.
Left hand, right hand, cross over, right hand.
Now let's come back down.
Right hand, left hand, cross over, left hand.
Great job.
Now, this time instead of smashing all three keys at the same time,
we're going to play them one at a time,
first in a stepping up pattern, then in a stepping down.
Let's practice moving our fingers how we're going to need to play.
We're going to start with our left hand, and we're going to use our three middle fingers.
Starting with this one, our ring finger, we going to go step-ping up,
then our right hand will take a turn, step-ping up,
then our left hand crosses over step-ping up,
our right hand sneaks through step-ping up.
Then we are going to turn it around and come back down.
We'll start with our ring finger of the right hand and go step-ping down,
then left hand step-ping down,
cross over step-ping down,
last hand step-ping down.
Good.
Now will you try it with me this time?
Let's do it together at the same time using our three fingers. Ready go.
Step-ping up, next hand, step-ping up,
cross over step-ping up, next hand, step-ping up.
Now, turn it around and come back down starting with ring finger.
Step-ping down, next hand, step-ping down,
cross over, step-ping down, last time step-ping down.
Great.
Now, let's talk about how to play this on the black keys.
Since this is a finger power exercise,
I'm going to be very picky about your piano posture as you play.
I'd like you to keep your fingers in a curved shape as you play.
And remember that when one finger is playing,
the other fingers shouldn't be sticking up.
They should be resting on their key so they're ready to go.
Another thing I'd like you to focus on is your wrist.
Remember how I asked you from your elbow to your knuckles to be smooth?
Well when you play this, I'd like you to pretend that that smooth surface
is like a trampoline.
If your wrist is too low, it's going to look like a slide,
and if it's too high it will look like a mountain.
So make sure it's like a flat smooth trampoline.
Every time you play a note, pretend like the trampoline is going to bounce down,
and then as you are getting ready for the next note the trampoline bounces back up.
If you had a little person riding on the trampoline, it would look like this.
[Playing piano]
Notice that every time I play a note, it bounces down.
Whenever a trampoline bounces down, it has to go back up.
Step-ping up.
Notice the shape of my fingers and how my wrist moves.
Watch one more time.
Step-ping up.
So it's the dropping down of your wrist that helps the note to go down.
Now let's try the whole thing together.
Place your left hand on a low group of three black keys,
and your right hand on the next group of three black keys.
And say the words with me, stepping up, or stepping down.
We're going to start with the ring finger of left hand.
Ready go.
Step-ping up, next hand, step-ping up,
cross over, step-ping up, slide through, step-ping up.
Now we're going to come back down starting on the highest note. Go.
Step-ping down, next hand, step-ping down,
cross over, step-ping down, slide through, step-ping down.
Great job.
How did you do at keeping your fingers curved?
Good.
If anytime you notice fingers sticking up in the air,
just slow down and tell those fingers to relax.
Also, how did you do at having a bouncy trampoline wrist?
If it wasn't perfect, just keep practicing it until you can do it great.
Let's do it one more time now, and this time we'll sing the solfege as we go.
We'll sing DO RE MI when we're stepping up,
or we'll sing MI RE DO if we're stepping down.
Here we go. Get your hands ready.
Left hand starts. Ready go.
DO RE MI, next hand,
DO RE MI, cross over,
DO RE MI, slide through, DO RE MI.
Coming back down. MI RE DO, next hand,
MI RE DO, cross over,
MI RE DO, last time, MI RE DO.
Just like the last finger power exercise I taught you, black key smashes,
I'd like you to practice this one two times every day
working on the shape of your fingers, and having a bouncy wrist as you play.
Remember to keep all your fingers touching the keys as you play.
Always resting in a curved shape on the keys.
If you'd like printed instructions for how to do this exercise,
and tips on good piano posture for while you play,
you can download that from our website.
Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.
Hey look everyone, I'm jumping on the trampoline!