Digital Piano Tutorial (Basic Training)

Author: Ni Dongyang
Publisher: Henan University Press
Book Description:
The form and content of piano teaching in teacher-training universities have always been a hot topic in piano teaching reform. Since the early 1990s, when the new teaching method of group piano lessons was introduced and promoted in China, universities across the country have conducted in-depth exploration and research on the teaching content and methods of group piano lessons. They have broken away from traditional teaching models and methods, continuously enriching and improving the teaching content, shifting from focusing on cultivating skilled professionals to cultivating comprehensive, well-rounded individuals with a solid foundation, strong innovative spirit, and the ability to fulfill the important mission of enhancing the musical and cultural literacy of the entire society. This aligns with the educational reform spirit advocated by the Ministry of Education and meets the growing demand for widespread piano music education in society.
Music, as a fundamental quality of individuals—human quality—continuously improves, enriches, and develops throughout one's life, serving as a core component of lifelong education. At the same time, music itself carries a distinct sense of the times, reflecting the development level of social culture and the process of national cultural development. Therefore, the success or failure of music education in teacher-training universities directly impacts the development of the entire nation's musical culture and the cultural literacy of all people. It can be said that piano education is the soul and foundation of music education, serving as the core of teacher-training music education. It integrates theory and skills, fostering students' theoretical knowledge while refining their fundamental techniques.
Based on this understanding, this textbook adheres to the principle of "theory guiding practice," combining piano skill learning with music theory to inspire and promote each other, thereby enhancing artistic cultivation. It emphasizes improving students' "positional sense" training for five-finger patterns in the foundational stage, using rigorous finger-positioning exercises to help students quickly adapt to playing the entire keyboard. It strengthens the cultivation of students' comprehensive keyboard skills, accelerates reaction times in sight-reading exercises, and enhances improvisational accompaniment skills through combination training with transposition, double notes, and chord learning. Group performances are utilized to fully mobilize students' collaboration and communication skills. Through collaboration, students continuously absorb others' strengths while creatively expressing their own imagination, developing logical and imaginative thinking abilities through short, group-involved musical phrases. At the same time, fundamental music theory is integrated into playing and practice, reinforcing abstract theoretical knowledge with concrete piano performance, strengthening cross-disciplinary connections.
This textbook is suitable for students in junior and senior colleges (teacher-training and secondary teacher-training schools) for general piano education (minor courses) and adult learners of piano. It can also serve as a textbook for other music majors in music colleges for general piano education.
Due to the author's limited academic expertise, some issues may arise. Readers are encouraged to provide valuable feedback.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Preparation Stage
Section 1: Theory and Technique
1. Notes and Durations
2. Sight-Reading
3. Keyboard Recognition
4. Dynamics and Accidental Signs
5. Basic Playing Techniques
6. Rhythmic Exercises
7. Meter and Coordination Exercises
8. Constructing a Five-Finger Position Using Semitones and Whole Tones Based on Specified Notes
Section 2: Sight-Reading
1. Sight-Reading
2. Sight-Reading Practice
Section 3: Solo and Ensemble
Chapter 1: Preparation Stage
Section 1: Theory and Technique
1. Notes and Durations
2. Sight-Reading
3. Keyboard Recognition
4. Dynamics and Accidental Signs
5. Basic Playing Techniques
6. Rhythmic Exercises
7. Meter and Coordination Exercises
8. Constructing a Five-Finger Position Using Semitones and Whole Tones Based on Specified Notes
Section 2: Sight-Reading
1. Sight-Reading
2. Sight-Reading Practice
Section 3: Solo and Ensemble
1. Solo
2. Ensemble
Section 4: Creative Activities
1. Rhythmic Imitation
2. Auditory Imitation
Chapter 2: Major Triads and Major Hand Positions
Section 1: Keyboard Theory and Technique
1. Major Triads
2. Major Hand Position
3. Basic Exercises
4. Basic Playing Techniques
5. Meter and Time Signatures
Section 2: Sight-Reading and Transposition
1. Major Hand Position Sight-Reading Practice
2. Cycle of Fifth Intervals Using Major Hand Position
3. Transposition Using the Cycle of Fifth Intervals of the Major Hand Position
4. Major Hand Position Transposition Practice
Section 3: Solo and Ensemble
1. Solo
2. Ensemble
Section 4: Creative Activities
1. Improvisation Using Major Hand Position
2. Improvisational Rhythm
3. Improvisation Using Major Triads
4. Improvisational Accompaniment Using Major Triads
Chapter 3: Minor Hand Position, Minor Triads, and Chord Properties
Section 1: Keyboard Theory and Technique
1. Minor Triads
2. Minor Hand Position
3. Basic Exercises
4. Rhythmic and Coordination Exercises
Section 2: Sight-Reading and Transposition
1. Sight-Reading
2. Transposition
Section 3: Solo and Ensemble
1. Solo
2. Ensemble
Section 4: Creative Activities
1. Improvisation Using Minor Triads
2. Improvisation Using Minor Hand Position
3. Improvisational Imitation
4. Creative Ensemble
Chapter 4: Major Scales and Triads
Section 1: Keyboard Theory and Technique
1. Major Scale Four-Finger Position Practice and Rhythmic Training
2. Identification and Practice of Key Signatures
3. Triads Within Major Scales
4. Finger Coordination Exercises
5. Exercises
Section 2: Sight-Reading and Transposition
1. Sight-Reading
2. Transposition
Section 3: Solo
1. Solo
Chapter 5: Chord Inversions and Arpeggios
Chapter 6: Tonic and Dominant Chords
Chapter 7: Subdominant Chords
Chapter 8: Minor Scales
Chapter 9: Major Submediant Chords
Chapter 10: Minor Submediant Chords
Chapter 11: Secondary Dominant and Secondary Subdominant Chords
Chapter 12: Modal Scales
Appendix: Twelve Major and Minor Scales and Chord Connection Practice