Resources for Piano Students - Scales, History, Musical Terms...

 

EVENTS FOR CURRENT STUDENTS IN DR. CARNEY'S STUDIO

 

 

Below you will find resources that can help you in your studies. Some of these are pdf, Word, or Notepad documents you can download. Others are links to text on another page.

Notepad is a free version of Finale. Click here to download Notepad from Finale's website. For all of the Notepad files, you must right click on the link and be sure to not save it as a text file. Then you have to make sure your computer will open it with Notepad.

To read the "pdf" files, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader. It is available to download for free. Click here to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader so you can view the pdf file.

 

 

 

Piano Technique - Scales, etc.

Major Scales (pdf) - All the Major Scales in a pdf file. Two Octave Major Scales.

Harmonic Minor Scales (pdf) - All the harmonic minor scales in a pdf file. Two octave harmonic minor scales.

Exercises for Finger Independence (taken from Schmidt) - pdf file with exercises and instructions for practicing the exercises.

Practice Rhythms for 4-note groups - pdf file with commonly used rhythmic groupings that aid in the practice of passagework.

 

 

 

Practicing Strategy

Steps for Learning a New Piece of Music (for Beginners) - a link to a practicing strategy for beginning students.

Memorizing Tips - a link to general memorization tips for students of all levels.

 

 

 

Music History - History of Piano Music

Description of major piano composers, pieces, recordings - this link lists the major composers according to style period and the major works by each composer. Also included is a "suggested listening" guide to serve as an introduction to learning more about classical piano music.

Description of Four Style Periods - pdf file describing the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern Style Periods as they relate to piano music. Concepts are explained through standard musical examples from the piano repertory.

 

 

 

Music Theory - Piano Music Theory

 

Piano Terms Dictionary - a rather extensive dictionary of musical terms geared more towards the pianist.

Printable Staff Paper - pdf file of standard-size staff paper.

Printable Staff Paper – pdf file of BIG-size staff paper.

How to Build Major Triads - a Notepad document you can download that contains a practical explanation of how to build any major chord. Prerequisite knowledge for this exercise includes being able to play or write any Major 5-finger scale (the first 5 notes of a Major scale). (right click)

Building all Four Types of Triads - a Notepad document that explains how to construct the four types of traid qualities (Major, minor, diminished, and Augmented) by showing how it is done with a C Major Triad. (right click)

Major Scales Worksheet - a Notepad document that tests your ability to recognize different Major scales and also to identify different scale degrees from various Major scales. (right click)