Musical Phrasing - Four Main Ways to Connect Between Two Piano Keys

Welcome back! This piano lesson is dedicated to studying how to perform different musical phrasings. We're going to learn to connect between two piano keys in four different ways.

Recommended - Why should you Choose the Alfred's Basic Piano Course - Lesson Book Complete Level 1 (1a/1b)?

I have written a page where I share my opinion of the top Piano Method Books.
The book I use with my student is the Alfred's Basic Piano Course - Lesson Book Complete Level 1 (1a/1b).

It's a faster-paced version of Levels 1A and 1B that gets to staff reading more quickly. Perfect for a student who is 8 or older, or for a younger beginner with great musical aptitude.

1.First Musical Phrasing - Legato

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Legato means also that you have to perform a musical line in a graceful, connected style, as opposed to staccato. Legato is often indicated by a slur drawn over the effected notes or as a line over the notes which are meant to be performed in this manner.

The accurate way to perform this musical phrasing of on the piano is by pressing a finger, then pressing on the next finger and while the second finger is half way pressed on the piano key, you lift the first finger up.

The slur has two purposes in musical pieces. The first one indicates that a musical phrase should be played in a legato manner and the second purpose is to state the beginning and the ending of a musical line.
So if you happen two see two identical notes (Like to C's one after the other) in the middle of a slur you could wonder how you're supposed to play them legato.
You must lift your finger in order to allow the second key to be heard again so how can you connect them without a pause?
The answer is that you have to imagine the line as a whole and keep the first note pressed on the key as long as you can before you lift it and move to the next key.

One shouldn't however mix playing legato with TIED NOTES

When notes on the SAME LINE or SPACE are joined by a curved line, we call them TIED NOTES.

The key is held down for the COMBINED VALUES OF BOTH NOTES.

2. Playing Legatissimo

The accurate way to play the Legatissimo musical phrasing on the piano is by dropping a finger down, then dropping the next finger, keeping them both pressed for a slice of a moment before lifting first finger up (and not half way of the piano key like legato.)

3. Performing a musical phrasing of Staccato

When you see the Staccato musical phrasing sign you should basically drop a finger and create a relative short tone length then lift your finger and drop the other finger once the first finger has left the key completely.

4. Playing Staccatissimo

You can compare it to pizzicato in strings which means that you pluck a string rather then playing on it with a bow. The sound is more affected by the ATTACK then the duration of the note.

You can perform this musical phrasing by falling to the piano key as quickly as you can without staying enough time to create a real tone length.

How to Practice These Four Musical Phrasings?

Here's a handy way to practice these new musical phrasings we've learned.

Left Hand: Repeat the process with your left hand. This time put your fifth finger on the lower C and the other fingers respectively.

Counter Movement: Once you're done, try to play this exercise in a counter movement. Place both your thumbs on middle C and move to the second finger of both hands at the same time. Both hands are using the same fingers but playing different notes in counter movement.

Parallel movement: Parallel movement is a bit more difficult since you know have to use different fingers while you're playing the same notes.
Place first finger in the right hand on middle C and the other fingers respectively. Place your fifth finger in the left hand on the lower C and the other fingers respectively at the same time . Drop the first finger in the right and fifth finger in the left hand at the same time to both C's.

Move on to the second finger in the right hand and to the fourth finger in the left hand at the same time in a legato manner (Make sure you're not creating any pauses when switching between the two keys).

To conclude, every E.D (every day) exercise should be played in four different ways. Starting with the right hand apart, going to the left hand, counter movement and finally parallel movement.

Double that with the four ways we've learned and you'll see that you have plenty of work to do in the coming few weeks :)

Playing Different Musical Phrasings on Each Hand

The next piano exercise is for more advanced piano students. Once you're able connect betwen two piano keys in four ways try to challenge yourself by playing different accent marks on each hand.

Place your hand just like you did in the previous exercise when you played with both hand in a parallel movement.
Play legato with the right hand and staccato with the left hand as you ascend and descend.

Then switch sides and let the left hand play legato while the right hand is playing staccato. It's quiet a task to command the right hand to move smoothly to the next key while the left hand needs to jump from one key to the other.

Legatto and Staccato Exercises

When you play Legato, there should be no silence when moving from note to note.