The benefits of learning the piano are aplenty. Besides sharpening your concentration and increasing your dexterity and hand strength, it can also boost your self-esteem and happiness. For this reason, many parents are now encouraging their children to take some home piano lessons. Learning how to play the piano is actually not as complicated as it seems, especially if you have already mastered the fundamentals, such as hand positioning.
Hand position is crucial in piano. In fact, a student cannot progress as a musician and reach their full potential without learning hand positioning. There are actually incalculable hand positions on the piano. You will learn harder hand positions as your ability to play the piano progresses. With that said, if you are still a beginner, there are some basic hand positions that you can learn first to help you get started. Read on to find out the most basic hand positions that every new piano learner can learn easily.
1. The Middle C Hand Position
The middle C hand position is one of the most fundamental hand positions a piano student must learn. It is usually reserved for early beginner students to primers. The middle C hand position is actually quite simple, but you can feel a bit of awkwardness at first. It begins with the thumbs of your both hands being on middle C. Each of your fingers is then placed on the next white key, so that your hand rests comfortably on the piano.
As a refresher, middle C is located in the middle of the piano, often under the piano’s brand name if you are playing on an acoustic piano. For children, this hand position can be referred to as the “butterfly position” since the hands here are placed in such a manner that it looks like a butterfly. Unlike other hand positions, middle C uses fewer keys, so it is usually used only at the start of learning piano.
2. The C Hand Position
New piano students are likely to have numerous songs that start with their hands in the C hand position. If you know the finger numbers of each hand, then you will find it easy to distinguish this placement. In the C hand position, you basically just need to place your left hand’s pinky finger or finger 5 on C. Fingers 1, 2, 3, and 4 will then be placed on the white keys that immediately follow – that is, finger 1 on G, 2 on F, 3 on E, and 4 on D.
Meanwhile, for your right hand, its placement should start with the thumb being on C. Finger 2 should then be on D, 3 on E, 4 on F, and 5 on G. This hand position is referred to as the C position since both of your hands here are placed in order so that the C scale becomes easily accessible. Hence, you will most likely use this hand position if your song is in the C key signature. This key signature has no sharps or flats, so you are likely to use only the white keys in the music.
3. The G Hand Position
Like the C hand position, the G hand position is placed in such a way to allow your hands to access the G scale easily. Thus, your right hand’s thumb should be on a G, just up from the middle C. Then, each finger of your right hand should be placed on the white keys to the right of the G. Meanwhile, your left hand should also start with your pinky finger or finger 5 on G. Then, each finger should be on the keys right next to G. If you are playing in this hand position, then you are likely to play your music in the key of G.
Conclusion
It goes without saying that one cannot become a pianist without learning hand positions. Indeed, hand positioning is vital for the piano. In order to play music on the piano correctly, you first need to master your hand positions. Fortunately, learning hand positions on the piano is not as hard as it may seem. There are several easy hand positions you can always start with, such as the middle C, C, and G hand positions.
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