Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman, and today we are moving up the ladder of fifths to learn another major scale and corresponding arpeggio, D major.
Let's start with checking in with what we've learned so far on the ladder of fifths.
At the base of our ladder we always begin with the key of C major with zero sharps or flats,
and C major has a relative minor key: A minor, which also has zero sharps or flats.
Moving up a fifth from C, we arrive at G major with one sharp, and its relative E minor also with one sharp.
Today we're moving up another fifth from G, which brings us to D with two sharps: F-sharp and C-sharp.
Remember that every time we move up a fifth on the ladder, we add a sharp to the key signature.
As you probably guessed, D major also has a relative minor, B minor.
The relative minor is always a skip or a third below, and it has this same key signature.
So B minor also has two sharps.
This is our key signature for D major or B minor.
So this is what you'll see at the start of any piece of music in the key of D major or B minor.
It has two sharps, F-sharp and C-sharp.
Let's check out the D major scale on the piano.
Here are the notes of the D major scale.
You recall that in a major scale, DO RE MI FA, from MI to FA we have that half-step there at the top of this tetra scale,
and then SO LA TI DO, we have another half step here.
It's because of the placement of those half steps that we have to have that F-sharp and C-sharp to build our major scale.
Now, let's try to play that with our left hand.
Go ahead and get your left hand in position. We'll use the same fingering we've used for our other major one octave scales.
5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1, and then to come down we'll have, 1 2 3, thumb comes under, 1 2 3 4 5
Now I'd like you to press pause and try that a couple times on your own using the left hand fingering.
Don't forget the F-sharp and C-sharp. Try it out, press pause to do that, and then press play to go on.
Great, now let's try it with the right hand.
the right hand also uses the same fingering we've had for past one octave scales. We'll have: 1 2 3 on F-sharp, then finger 1 comes under
1 2 3 4 5, then to come down we have: 5 4 3 2 1 3 comes over to F-sharp.
So again not forgetting those two sharps, press pause and try the right hand D major one octave scale, then press play to go on.
Now let's check out the arpeggio.
Recall that the arpeggio is built on DO MI SO with an extra DO on top. That makes a one octave major arpeggio.
For the right hand our fingering will be 1 2 3 5 3 2 1
Remember to let your hand kind of comfortably shift from note to note as you play.
You don't have to be touching all the keys at the same time. 1 2 3 5 3 2 1
Okay, press pause and try that a few times, then press play to go on.
Now in the left hand for past arpeggios, our fingering has been 5 4 2 1.
In D major, because we have that sharp, 5 to 4 is a little bit too big of a stretch to be comfortable.
So, the recommended fingering for the D major arpeggio is 5 3 2 1 2 3 5 because of that sharp.
If that was an F natural, we would use a finger 4 like in the D minor arpeggio we would use 5 4.
The fingering for D major with the F-sharp is 3 okay?
So 5 3 2 1 is your fingering. Go ahead and press pause and try the left hand D major arpeggio, then press play to go on.
As you're practicing scales and arpeggios or any kind of finger power exercise,
it's always super important to have your best piano posture.
Remember that as you play, you never want to see this kind of what I call hula fingers, where it's like
down, they're buckling in backwards like that. Make sure your finger joints stay firm enough.
It should feel comfortable yet firm so it doesn't do that. I'm going to keep the fingertips in this shape the whole time as you play.
Also, remember to position your bench far enough away from the piano that your elbows aren't jammed up against your body.
Your elbow should be just slightly in front of your body so it can float freely and comfortably.
Also, remember your pinky should always play near its tip, not flat,
and then last of all, make sure that your forearm is level, and your wrist is level but flexible like this.
If your bench is too low, your arm might look like this. So make sure that your bench is high enough
so that you can have your very best posture.
Last of all, remember that I recommend you practice scales and arpeggios with a metronome.
By now you should be somewhere in between a metronome speed of about 108.
And as you can play it perfectly with no missed notes, with good piano posture, you can gradually speed that up till you're at about 138.
I recommend doing each scale two times up and down,
and then the arpeggio two times as well.
Notice with the arpeggio, I did two clicks on every note like a half note. 1 2 1 2 1 2
And as you ge ...