Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum A couple of beginner questions

1) When it says 8va, where do I move both my hands? Green or Red?



2) So it is 2 beats on blue and hold for 4 beats on green?



3) What is after alfred's book three? Will I have mastered piano if I complete book three?

4) How come the BC and EF keys don't have black keys in between them? What do sharps/flats do anyway? Why don't they just stick with one or the other?

I don't quite understand your little diagram, but you just move your right thumb to the next highest C, and your left hand pinky and ring finger to middle C. In other words, you shift each hand up one octave.

When you finish Book 3 you will be at about intermediate level. There are a couple of threads that answer the "What's after Alfred?" question. I think the general wisdom was that you then could move on to Essential Keyboard Repertoire (by Alfred) - (real classical pieces), or pick up some easy Jazz or Popular sheet music of your choice.


Hmmm....There is a half step between B and C, and a half step between E and F, so you don't need the black key. Why exactly that is, I don't know. LOL
Sharps raise the pitch up a half step, and flats lower it a half step. I just do what it says and don't question it. I'm sure that someone with advanced theory knowledge can give you a more involved answer.

1) 8va means that you play an octave above the note printed on the page. If the boxes in your picture represent octaves, then the green box would be correct.
2) I can only see the time signature of the picture and not the rest of it, but 2/4 time means that there are 2 crotchets (or quarter notes in the US) in one bar, just as 3/4 time has 3 crotchets in one bar and 4/4 has 4.
3) You won't have mastered the piano if by mastered you mean a virtuoso, but you'll have the skills you need to explore repertoire that interests you. I'm not familiar with Alfred's in particular, but method books usually take you to an intermediate level where you can start working on real music that you enjoy. You could try some of Grieg's lyric pieces, or some of the easier Chopin waltzes, or you could looks at some of the repertoire books.

I love 8va markings because I'm horrible with ledger notes.

So, yup, just play the same thing as printed, only 1 octave up. 8va is extremely common in ragtime, especially on the repeats. It gives the repeat a "novelty effect."

I'm not completely sure I understand the diagrammed hand options, but 8va written above the upper staff means to play the upper staff ONLY one octave higher than written. Below the lower staff, the symbol is usually 8vb or 8va bassa and means to play the lower staff ONLY one octave lower than written. Sometimes you will see 8va below the lower staff. This is sloppy usage but should still be interpreted as 8vb. As already suggested, the use of this notation minimizes writing extended passages in a lot of ledger lines.

In either case (8va or 8vb), the extent of the octave shift is usually indicated a horizontal line (often dashed). Above the upper staff, you occasionally see 15ma to indicate playing two octaves above the written notation. 15mb (below the lower staff) is theoretically possible but extremely rare (I've never seen it). Finally, you may occasionally see the octave shift written as just 8 without the va or vb suffix. This is also fairly rare, but means the same as 8va (when written above the upper staff) or 8vb (when written below the lower staff).

HOWEVER, if you're asking specifically about the piece you have posted, note the instruction 2nd time both hands 8va. This kind of explicit instruction overrides all of the other symbolic conventions I have outlined above. So, the right thumb moves up to start on the C above middle C, while the left pinky moves up to take over middle C (I THINK this means the green alternative in your diagram).

I also meant to say something about the second question. The short answer is yes (two beats in one measure followed by four beats in the next). Time signatures can and do change (and then change back) within a piece just like key signatures. What you see in this piece is a common example of an alternating rhythmic pulse over two measures. 6/4 is also a theoretical possiblity here, but if you think about how the piece "feels" is seems to have an "alternating meter" feel to it that is best expressed by the alternating time signatures.

its easy, just 2nd time move both hands up an octave, and for 2 yes the first part is 2 beats then it goes to 4 beats changing time signatures, and after alfreds course i assume theres alot more to learn, i did that book im on book 2 now, its alota work time and patience, and almost neverending learning lol, it sucks