Week 1
Say hello to the keys
Find C, count your fingers, play your first song.
The piano has lots of keys, but you only need to learn a few. This week you find a very important key called C, and you play a tune with just three notes.
Find C
Look for the two black keys that sit together. C is the white key just to the left of them. The red keys above are all Cs. The one in the middle is called middle C.
Meet your fingers
Get ready
- 1Sit up tall, with the piano right in front of your tummy.
- 2Let your arms hang down, then lift your hands onto the keys. Your elbows should be a little bit higher than the keys.
- 3Curve your fingers, like you are holding a small ball.
- 4Fingers are numbered. Thumb is 1, pointer is 2, middle is 3, ring is 4, pinky is 5.
The colours of the notes:
- Cred
- Dorange
- Eyellow
- Fgreen
- Gsky blue
- Ablue
- Bpurple
Finger exercises
Warm up your fingers
One finger, one key. Walk up the stairs, then back down.
The five-finger walk
Right hand
Colour is the note. The number is your finger. A wide block means hold it longer.
Press Play to hear it. Then try Your turn!
- Put your thumb on C. One finger on each key after it.
- Press the key all the way down, then let it come back up.
- Make every note the same loudness, like marching.
Songs to play
Your tune
Only three notes! Yellow, orange, red. You can sing the words as you play.
Hot Cross Buns
Right hand
Colour is the note. The number is your finger. A wide block means hold it longer.
Press Play to hear it. Then try Your turn!
- Say the words: hot cross buns, hot cross buns.
- The little blocks in bar 3 are quick. Two of them fit in one beat.
- Use fingers 3, 2 and 1. Thumb is always number 1.
Win four stars
Your quests
0 of 4 stars. Tap a star when you finish a quest.
Grown-up corner
Ten minutes a day beats an hour once a week. If the keyboard has no sticker set, you can print the colour keys on the Print page and stick them on with low-tack tape. Praise the effort, not the speed.
Plan for the week: about 10 minutes, 5 days. Warm up (2 min), scale or hard bar (3 min), the tune (3 min), then play anything you like (2 min).