Lesson 4

Finding C, D, & E on the Piano

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Transcript


Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman.
Today we are going to learn how to find C, D, and E on the piano.
To make it a little more interesting, I've made up a story to share.
So let's come over to the piano for the story of Piano Street.

Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived on Piano Street.
He was walking up the street home from school one day,
and on Piano Street there was a dog house.
These two black keys right here make a dog house,
so guess who lived in the dog house? Well, of course, it was a dog.
And it so happens that the white key in between
any two black keys on Piano Street is called D for dog.
Now, this was one of those mean dogs,
the kind you want to stay away from, with sharp teeth and a spiky collar,
and the boy did not want to mess with that dog. So he thought to himself:
How am I going to get past this dog? Then he had an idea.
He remembered that he had a bone in his lunchbox
leftover from his lunch that day. So, he opened up his lunchbox,
threw the bone into the doghouse, and the mean dog ran inside,
and he was able to run by as fast as he could. He was safe.

Well, it so happens, on Piano Street, there was another doghouse.
Do you see these two black keys here?
These two black keys make another dog house.
So, the boy started to feel nervous
when out came one of those big, furry, slobbery dogs
who just like to lick you all over.
It was so nice and tame it came out and licked him on the nose,
and then the boy kept on going.
Now, can you find any other dog houses on Piano Street?
Look for two black keys. Can you point to the two black keys
that we haven't found yet? If you're pointing here you're correct.
So, the white key in between these two black keys is also called D.
It's easy to find D's on your piano because all you have to do
is look for white key in between a group of two black keys.
We don't want the groups of three black keys, only the groups of two.
Now, on your own piano at home, can you find and play all of your D's?
Find a D, play it and say D until you've found every single one.
So pause the video, and find and play all the D's on your own piano,
then press play when you're ready to continue.

Did you find all the D's? Great job. Now, let's keep going with our story.
These dogs are going to go to sleep in their dog houses.
Now, the next day, the boy was walking home again,
and the mean dog comes out and he was back barking and snarling.
The boy was in trouble because he didn't have a bone that day.
He had had peanut butter and jelly for lunch.
"What am I going to do?'" said the boy.
Well, just then, out of the tree came a cat, and this C is for cat.
It was a sneaky Siamese cat who loved to tease that dog,
because the dog, as mean as he was, he was actually afraid of cats.
So as soon as he saw that cat, he went whimpering back inside his doghouse.
"Well thanks," said the boy to the cat.
And he gave the cat a pat on the head and the kitty purred against his leg,
and the boy is able to keep on walking.
Well, it so happens in music that wherever there is a D,
the letter before it, just like the musical alphabet, has to be C.
So, guess what letter belongs right here before this D?
If you said C you're correct.
In front of every dog house D, there will always be a C on your piano.
So the easiest way to find a C is to simply look where D is
and look for the note right before it on the left.
Now, I'd like you to press pause again,
and go and find and play all the C's on your piano.
Whenever you find one, press it and say "C."
So press pause to try that, and then press play when you're ready to continue.

Great job finding all the C's.
Now we're going to put all the animals back to sleep again.
And now, on the third day, the mean dog came out,
and he was feeling a bit upset because he had been tricked twice now:
once by the bone, and once by the cat.
And he was not going to let that boy get by again.
Now, to help with my story, can you think of the letter that comes after D?
What is it? If you said E you are correct.
Well, it so happened at the zoo that day,
that the zookeeper forgot to lock the fence on the place where the elephants stay,
and so boom boom boom out of nowhere came an elephant,
a giant elephant that came, and that dog took one look at that elephant
and went whimpering back into his doghouse.
But hey, it was an elephant from the zoo, so it was actually quite tame.
The boy gave him a pat on the side and kept on walking.
Well, can you guess where another E is going to be?
If you said here, or here, you're correct.
Just like the musical alphabet, after C, D, comes E.
So whenever you want to find a ...