Friday, February 21, 2014 by Hamdani, Laurie | Technique

Students learn early on that the white keys on a piano keyboard are named using the letters of the alphabet. Except, only the letters A - G. This is due to the repeating pattern of keys on the keyboard:

So, there are multiple keys named A, B, C, etc. Students often recognize that they should play an A or an F (or B, C, D, E, or G) when reading the music but sometimes get confused as to which A or F (or B, C, D, E, or G).

This is where the Oreo comes to the rescue. We all know what an Oreo cookie looks like:
a chocolate cookie layer on the bottom and top and a tasty white creamy filling in the middle.

I compare an Oreo to the musical Grand Staff. The Grand Staff holds all the notes a student can play. The upper staff (Treble Staff) holds the notes which represent higher sounds and the lower staff (Bass Staff) holds the notes which represent lower sounds. Higher sounds on the piano are from the center of the keyboard moving to the right and lower sounds from the center of the keyboard moving left. Think of the Treble or upper staff as being the top chocolate cookie layer of the Oreo and the Bass or lower staff as being the bottom chocolate cookie layer.

Students learn early on that the white keys on a piano keyboard are named using the letters of the alphabet. Except, only the letters A - G. This is due to the repeating pattern of keys on the keyboard:

So, there are multiple keys named A, B, C, etc. Students often recognize that they should play an A or an F (or B, C, D, E, or G) when reading the music but sometimes get confused as to which A or F (or B, C, D, E, or G).

This is where the Oreo comes to the rescue. We all know what an Oreo cookie looks like:
a chocolate cookie layer on the bottom and top and a tasty white creamy filling in the middle.

I compare an Oreo to the musical Grand Staff. The Grand Staff holds all the notes a student can play. The upper staff (Treble Staff) holds the notes which represent higher sounds and the lower staff (Bass Staff) holds the notes which represent lower sounds. Higher sounds on the piano are from the center of the keyboard moving to the right and lower sounds from the center of the keyboard moving left. Think of the Treble or upper staff as being the top chocolate cookie layer of the Oreo and the Bass or lower staff as being the bottom chocolate cookie layer.

Students learn early on that the white keys on a piano keyboard are named using the letters of the alphabet. Except, only the letters A - G. This is due to the repeating pattern of keys on the keyboard:

So, there are multiple keys named A, B, C, etc. Students often recognize that they should play an A or an F (or B, C, D, E, or G) when reading the music but sometimes get confused as to which A or F (or B, C, D, E, or G).

This is where the Oreo comes to the rescue. We all know what an Oreo cookie looks like:
a chocolate cookie layer on the bottom and top and a tasty white creamy filling in the middle.

I compare an Oreo to the musical Grand Staff. The Grand Staff holds all the notes a student can play. The upper staff (Treble Staff) holds the notes which represent higher sounds and the lower staff (Bass Staff) holds the notes which represent lower sounds. Higher sounds on the piano are from the center of the keyboard moving to the right and lower sounds from the center of the keyboard moving left. Think of the Treble or upper staff as being the top chocolate cookie layer of the Oreo and the Bass or lower staff as being the bottom chocolate cookie layer.

Some notes on the Grand Staff appear in the white space in between the Treble and the Bass staff. These notes represent sounds in the middle range of sounds and quite literally near the center of the keyboard. Think of this white space in between the Treble and Bass staffs as being the tasty white cream in the center of the Oreo cookie.

Quite literally, if notes are written on either staff near this white space in between the two, or are actually IN the white space, those are keys very near the center of the keyboard.

As notes climb higher on the Treble staff, they move higher in sound and further to the right of the middle of the keyboard. Conversely, as notes step lower on the Bass staff they are lower in sound and move further to the left of the middle of the keyboard.

Students can quickly begin to grasp whether a note on either staff which represents the key A or B (or C, D,E, F, or G) should be near the middle of the keyboard or higher or lower.

If they are playing an A but not the correct A, I can simply ask them which layer of the “Oreo” that note is on!

Some notes on the Grand Staff appear in the white space in between the Treble and the Bass staff. These notes represent sounds in the middle range of sounds and quite literally near the center of the keyboard. Think of this white space in between the Treble and Bass staffs as being the tasty white cream in the center of the Oreo cookie.

Quite literally, if notes are written on either staff near this white space in between the two, or are actually IN the white space, those are keys very near the center of the keyboard.

As notes climb higher on the Treble staff, they move higher in sound and further to the right of the middle of the keyboard. Conversely, as notes step lower on the Bass staff they are lower in sound and move further to the left of the middle of the keyboard.

Students can quickly begin to grasp whether a note on either staff which represents the key A or B (or C, D,E, F, or G) should be near the middle of the keyboard or higher or lower.

If they are playing an A but not the correct A, I can simply ask them which layer of the “Oreo” that note is on!

Some notes on the Grand Staff appear in the white space in between the Treble and the Bass staff. These notes represent sounds in the middle range of sounds and quite literally near the center of the keyboard. Think of this white space in between the Treble and Bass staffs as being the tasty white cream in the center of the Oreo cookie.

Quite literally, if notes are written on either staff near this white space in between the two, or are actually IN the white space, those are keys very near the center of the keyboard.

As notes climb higher on the Treble staff, they move higher in sound and further to the right of the middle of the keyboard. Conversely, as notes step lower on the Bass staff they are lower in sound and move further to the left of the middle of the keyboard.

Students can quickly begin to grasp whether a note on either staff which represents the key A or B (or C, D,E, F, or G) should be near the middle of the keyboard or higher or lower.

If they are playing an A but not the correct A, I can simply ask them which layer of the “Oreo” that note is on!