If you want to learn to play piano, getting familiar with music theories is a good point to start. But once you know introductory notes and chords, it’s time to try playing. Multiple piano students might get confused at this stage as they doubt where to place their hands and in what position. Believe it or not, it’s not as complicated as it might seem to find the proper piano hand position. Let’s explore a common issue on how to position hands on piano in the article below.
Proper hand position on piano to play correctly
If you wonder about beginner piano hand position, you can’t go wrong with placing your hands gently on the piano. You can grab a ruler and place it horizontally to comprehend the proper alignment from your hand to your arm. Your fingers need to stay curved – imagine there is a ball under your hand. While playing the piano piece, you might want to straighten your hands, but be sure you keep them curved. It helps you move your hands effortlessly on the piano and cross your fingers if needed.
After you figure out the correct hand position for piano, you might want to know where to place your hands before starting to play any melody. The truth is that some of the most popular hand positions for piano beginners remain the C position and middle C position. We’ll introduce you to them below. Furthermore, you will find other hand positions easily once you know the key signature of the musical piece.
1. The C piano hand placement
Multiple songs for beginners start with your hands placed in the C hand position. Once you can distinguish each finger number, then it appears an easy task to find this hand placement on the piano. By the way, the C key signature features no flats and sharps, so a pianist uses only white keys while playing the piece. A student will place a finger 5 of their left hand on C in this position. Other fingers numbered 4, 3, 2, and 1 stay on the near keys – D, E, F, and G accordingly. At the same time, the thumb of your right hand is on C in this piano hand position. Finger 2 stays on D, finger 3 on E, finger 4 on F, and finger 5 on G.
2. The middle C piano hand placement
This piano hand position is considered one of the simplest for early piano beginners, while kids might know the middle C hand placement as the «butterfly» position. Middle C is placed in the middle of the piano itself; many acoustic pianos feature the middle C key signature straight under the piano brand name. So, a pianist puts both thumbs on the middle C, while each finger should stay on the following white key. In addition, as this hand placement incorporates fewer keys than other common positions, only beginners are likely to use it while mastering the piano.