Lesson 4: Both hands together
Get your two hands playing one after the other, like a conversation, and play “Frère Jacques” as an echo.
What you'll learn
- Place both hands at the same time
- Pass the melody from one hand to the other
- Play “Frère Jacques” as an echo
The lesson, step by step
- Each of your hands can play on its own. Today, they're going to play together, passing the notes from one to the other. And at the end, you'll play a song everyone knows.
- Place both hands. Your left hand on the C on the left, with your little finger, and your right hand on the middle C, with your thumb. The other fingers rest on the next white keys, just like in the previous lessons. Listen first: the two Cs, one after the other, left then right.
- Now, your hands answer each other. The right hand goes up: C, D, E. Then the left hand answers going down: E, D, C, in the low sounds. Listen first.
- Today's song is Frère Jacques, also known as Brother John. We'll play it as an echo: the right hand sings a phrase, then the left hand repeats it lower, with the same notes. Listen first to the first phrase: C, D, E, C.
- Here's the second phrase: E, F, G. The G lasts longer: keep the key pressed down until the end of the bar. Again, the right hand starts and the left hand repeats. Listen first.
- To finish the song, both thumbs work together. They're neighbors: your left thumb is on G, your right thumb on C. Listen first: C with your right thumb, G with your left thumb, then C again, twice.
- Your song: Frère Jacques, with your two hands answering each other. Listen to it once, then follow the falling notes.
- Well done, your two hands just played a real song together. They pass the notes to each other, and each one keeps its place on the keyboard. In the next lesson, we'll discover rhythm: long notes, short notes, and how to count the beats.