The course › Unit 7: Sharps, flats and intervals
Lesson 41 of 72 · D, E, F♯, G, A: a black key in the position
Put your right thumb on the D above middle C: D (1), E (2), F♯ (3), G (4), A (5). For the first time, one finger of your position plays a black key: your middle finger moves forward onto F♯.
Why F♯ and not F? Listen: with F♯, the five notes sound exactly like your C position, only higher. With F, the color changes.
D position: finger 3 on F♯.
Tip: Keep your hand rounded and move it a little toward the back of the keys, so your middle finger lands naturally on the black key.
Go up and back down. Finger 3 plays F♯, the black key.
Five notes in a row make a pentascale (a five-finger pattern). Measure the distances in your C position: C-D a whole step, D-E a whole step, E-F a half step, F-G a whole step.
This pattern, W W H W (whole, whole, half, whole), is called the major pentascale. In D position, you need F♯ to get it: D-E (W), E-F♯ (W), F♯-G (H), G-A (W).
Under each note, the distance from the one before: W = a whole step, H = a half step.
Why this way: Instead of learning each position by heart, you remember a single pattern, W W H W, that you can place on any note. Thinking in patterns rather than single notes is what lets musicians transpose easily.
Play the written note. F♯ has its sharp sign: don’t forget it!
The nursery rhyme from lesson 5, in D position and on the staff. F♯ comes back in almost every measure: its sharp is written only once per measure.
Ode to Joy in its third position: same fingers, one more black key. Right hand in D position (finger 3 on F♯). Left hand: D (5) and A (1), one whole note per measure.
← Lesson 40: G position Lesson 42: Major and minor pentascales →