Learn to play
beautifully

Question: How do you know if a note is a sharp?

When the sharp sign (#) is next to the G clef and F clef, how do I know what notes in the music piece are played as sharps?

Albert’s reply: One sharp is the key signature for G major and its relative key of E minor.

Here is the key signature...

Question: These are the questions that my music teacher asked me and I didn’t quite know what he was trying to tell me.

Here are the questions:

• Of what is the major scale composed?
• What degrees of the scale are used to build the major scale?

Could you help?

– Courtney

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Question: As an adult (aged 54) student of the piano, I have encountered lots of difficulty achieving stability (and/or a firm grip) on black keys and have often wondered whether this is connected with age. This difficulty first became apparent when I started learning the G-flat and the E-flat...

Question: When sight reading new music by professional piano players, are the fingering positions subject to interpretation or are the fingerings “set in stone”?

– Don (Hillsborough, New Jersey, USA)

Albert’s reply: Editorial fingerings are essentially always to be...

Question: Hi, I would like to have some explanation about the third measure of the Chopin Etude, Op. 10, No. 4. I already play it up to tempo, but only on this passage am I having some problems. it doesn’t sound exactly how I expect it to sound. I even rotate and don’t leap, even...

Question: I am in urgent need of the finger settings for the following scale: A-sharp chromatic major – double note thirds for both hands. Can you please help me?

– Heleen

Albert’s reply: I assume you’re talking about chromatic minor thirds. “Chromatic major”...

Question: Hello Albert,

It’s good of you to help me, thanks. Like you, I am an extremely “late starter” but I feel this is my time now to achieve my dreams. I only did 3 years of classical training when I was 7 years old, I also disliked learning and would try to forget about...

Question: What’s the best way of practicing to make the left hand give a lower sound than your right hand? And to make a lower sound in one finger of another in the same hand?

– Ali Kareem (Lebanon)

Albert’s reply: Dynamics in piano playing has to do with the speed with which...

Question: I have problems with playing the fast octaves at the end of the third movement of Schubert’s Sonata in A minor D. 784 (Op. 143).

Do you have any advice on how to practice the octaves to achieve the fast tempo (my aim is about 138 quarter notes per minute)?

Thanks for your reply...

Question: My question is, how important is “correct” fingering when playing?

I recently downloaded (THANK YOU) your scales reference, which showed all twelve scales. I’m already familiar and comfortable with the scales, but your fingering was different than I’m used to.

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Question: In bars 5–7 of the Capriccio in D minor by Brahms, the right hand is supposed to play legato octaves (the melody) while holding down a middle voice as well. How can you create this smooth legato effect at a presto energico tempo without the use of the pedal? Thanks for your...

Question: Hello Albert,

Thank you for your reply mail regarding “the fingering” for playing descending chromatic minor 6ths. It is most helpful and is going to take me some time to practice these few octaves correctly, especially playing this section with both hands with the 2 thumbs...