Left hand parts on the piano - basslines

Summary

Mix and match activities to create a fun lesson on the basics of playing piano with the left hand.

🎲 What’s included in the activities:

• Choosing and analyzing a song
• Differentiating between the right and left hand;
• Understanding the function of left-hand notes;
• Playing the D key with left hand;
• Playing the D key with left hand in a popular song;
• Playing the E & C# keys with left hand;
• Combining and playing D, E and C# keys in a popular song

💻 Materials:

• Solfeg.io web app best used with Chrome browser
• Projector or computer and access to Wi-Fi
• Pianos or Keyboards for students

Inspiration

🕐  Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Choose and analyze a song

🎶 Recommended Songs:

‍

🎲 Activity:

• Select the song 'Everything I Wanted' by Billie Eilish from the Song library. Click on 'Piano' under 'Tools' - 'Visuals' so that the keyboard is visible.
• Tell students a bit about the song. You can mention some facts from the song description!
• Listen to Pre-Chorus 1 and Chorus 1 of the song.
• Discuss with your students:

How would you describe the mood of the song?

Do you think it will be easy or hard to play this song?

What is the genre of this song? (Pop)

I'm a lefty

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Differentiate right and left hand;
• Understand what kind of pitches do each hand usually play;
• Play a key on the piano with the left hand
• Learn to and play the D-bassline in a song on the piano
• Learn and play the E & C# keys on the piano with your left hand
• Learn and play the D, E and C# keys on the piano one after the other
• Play the D, E and C# keys on the piano with your left hand in a song
• ‍

🎶 Recommended Songs:

‍

🎲 Activity:

• Let the students sit at their pianos and remind them to face the middle of the piano.
• Make sure your students know which hand is the right hand, and which - the left. Ask them to lift up their left hand!
• Explain to your students that the left hand usually plays on the left side of the piano, while the right hand - on the right side of the piano. Ask your students:

What kind of pitches will the right hand usually play? (Higher-pitched notes)

What kind of pitches will the left hand usually play? (Lower-pitched notes)

• Ask students to put their left hand on the piano. See if their fingers are curved and their palm is lifted, not laying flat on the keys!
• Tell them to play one key (any key) with each of their left-hand fingers. Then, tell them to do the same with their right hand. Then, ask a question:

Is it harder to play with your left hand than your right hand? Why do you think that is?

Find the D key

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn to and play the D key on the piano with your left hand

🎶 Recommended Songs:

‍

🎲 Activity:

• Tell your students to find the D key in the middle of the keyboard and play it with their left hand's thumb. If you tell them all to play in unison, it may help to quickly identify if anyone's playing the wrong note.
• Now, tell them to find the next D key on the left side. It should sound a bit lower. Again, let them play in unison with their left hands to identify any issues!
  

Left Hand in the Song!

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn to and play the D-bassline in a song on the piano

🎶 Recommended Songs:

‍

🎲 Activity:

• Play the Intro of the song and listen to it with your students.
• Tell the students that they will now have to play the D-bassline in this song.
• As soon as the D symbol passes the red line - play it! Other key symbols should be omitted now.
• Press play and let them practice pressing the D key with their left hand in the song! You can also press the loop button in the controls so that the Intro section would repeat multiple times.

Play the E & C# keys on the Piano

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn and play the E & C# keys on the piano with your left hand

🎶 Recommended Songs:

‍

🎲 Activity:

• Get your students acquainted with the E key - it is the next white key to the D key. Ask them to play it with their left thumb!
• Next, help students to find and play the C# key with their left thumb - it is the next black key to the D key on the left side.
• Let them practice the keys and get familiar with them!

Sequence it up

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn and play the D, E and C# keys on the piano one after the other

🎶 Recommended Songs:

‍

🎲 Activity:

• Show this key combo to your students - D-E-C#-D. Repeat it multiple times with your left hand.
• If this is your student's first time playing with their left hand, tell them to play all keys with their left thumb. This way, they will only have to think about the keys, not about fingers too. If they are already a bit more advanced, you can tell them to play the sequence with their 2nd-1st-3rd-2nd fingers.
• Let the students practice this combo by themselves. Encourage them to slowly build up the tempo if they feel comfortable enough.
  

Turn left

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Play the D, E and C# keys on the piano with your left hand in a song

🎶 Recommended Songs:

‍

🎲 Activity:

• Play the Intro of the song to your students (D-E-C#-D) with your left hand. After that, press play and let the students try to repeat the intro by themselves. You can loop the Intro section and do it multiple times until the students feel comfortable with this part of the song.

Everything I Wanted

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Play the D, E and C# keys on the piano with your left hand in a song

🎶 Recommended Songs:

‍

🎲 Activity:

• Try to play the left hand part of Intro and Verse 1 with your students! If students seem to struggle, you can slow down the tempo and practice the song with slower key changes.

Reflection

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Reflect on the learning process

🎲 Activity:

• Ask these questions to the class and have a short discussion

What was fun and what was challenging about playing with your left hand?

How did you like this song? In your opinion, was the left-hand part easy or hard?

Homework assignment

🕐 Time: 3 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Practice the right-hand part of popular songs and combine it with the left-hand part

🎲 Activity:

Challenge students to go beyond the lesson by…

• Students can learn the right hand part of the same song and then try to combine both hands.
• Students can learn the basics of piano playing by completing Solfeg.io 10-day program on the mobile app - it contains both left and right hand parts for very easy songs.

‍

‍