Lesson 1: Basic Keyboarding (part 1- Naming the white keys) (PDF)

BUMP Beats CurriculumWeek 8Lesson 1 A: Basic Keyboarding pt. 1 – Naming the keysDiscussionSo, now that everyone has had some experience playing scales and melodies with theMatrix, we’re ready to start playing some of the instruments live with the keyboards. Ourthree main goals for today are:1. Getting familiar with how a keyboard looks.2. Learning the names of the white keys of the keyboard3. Recording ourselves playing the C Major scaleKeys of the KeyboardOK, keyboards can look kind of confusing, but they are actually pretty simple once youknow how they’re made up. First of all there are two main types of keys: white keys andblack keys.Here is what they all look like:Picture AAs you can see, there are 12 different keys in all.You may be thinking, "But I've seen a piano before and I know they've got a lot morekeys than that." That’s sort of true…Take a look at this picture of a full sized piano keyboard:Picture B

Do you notice any patterns? Pay special attention to the black keys for a second – seehow it’s just groups of 2 and 3 keys switching off. Can you see how the pattern justrepeats itself over and over?Basically, the whole keyboard is just made up of the same 12 keys repeating. A set ofthese 12 keys is called an octave. As you go to the right, the pitch gets higher, as you goto the left, the pitch gets lower, but there are always just the same 12 keys.(Instructor: Demonstrate by playing a specific note –e.g C - at different octaves.)"What are the names of these notes?" you ask. Super easy...• The white keys are just the first 7 letters of the alphabet (A-B-C-D-E-F-G)• The black keys are the same letters, only with extra things called sharps and flats.We'll talk more about the black keys later. For now let’s just concentrate on the whitekeys:In the picture above, what is the name of the first key on the left? What happens whenyou go up 12 keys to the right? If we could see more of the keyboard, what do youthink the next white note to the right would be?The big thing to remember for today…The white keys are just the first 7 letters of the alphabet (A-B-C-D-E-F-G)If you play each of these white keys in order, from C to C, you are playing what iscalled the C Major scale. You may remember this scale from our work with theMatrix.(Instructor: Demonstrate playing C Major)Right now you are going to record yourself playing C Major with the keyboard.

Please do the following:1. Get a keyboard and USB cable and plug it into your computer.2. Start a new Reason file3. Set the Tempo to 80 BPM4. Create an NN19 Digital Sampler (Create>NN19 Digital Sampler)5. Click on the Browse Patch buttonin the upper left corner of the NN19.6. Now let’s load a patch called “Bright Piano”…Go to Reason Factory SoundBank>NN19 Patches.Pianos and Keyboards>BrightPiano.smp7. Play a few notes on the keyboard. You should hear the sound of a piano. Ifyou don’t, raise your hand and an instructor will help you.8. In the Sequencer, put the L on Bar 1 and R on Bar 5. (You may need to zoomin to see the right numbers.)9. Make sure that both the Click and Loop buttons are lit.

10. Hit Play and listen to the tempo of the click.11. Practice playing the C Major scale up and down in time with the click – eachnote should be played on a click. Play the high C twice. If you need to, feelfree to slow the tempo down.12. When you are ready, hit Record and record yourself playing the scale up andback.Hint – instead of trying to hit record and play right on the first click, wait forthe playhead to play through once and then start playing when it loops back tothe beginning.13. Hit Stop when you are finished. If you don’t like your performance, delete itand try again. Keep trying until you get it right!14. Save this as: your name_CMajorScale15. Raise your hand and have the instructor come check your work.When you have finished recording the C Major scale, you can get started on the nextlesson.(Instructor: Week 8, Lesson 2A)Additional resources:www.looknohands.comPiano Scale Fingeringhttp://www.free-online-piano-lessons.com/piano-scales-practice-techniques.html