Between the black keys?

[gregh]

In Alfred, page 67, "Got Those Blues", in the treble line the first line E and third space C are played together, with G and A in between. That's fine. But then it's E-flat and C together. About the only way I've found to get the E-flat, with my thumb, is to move my hand in far enough that I'm playing the G and A between the black keys, and my fingers feel fat.

Is that the correct way to play that combination? Is it common in other situations to have to play in that far?

[outin]

In Alfred, page 67, "Got Those Blues", in the treble line the first line E and third space C are played together, with G and A in between. That's fine. But then it's E-flat and C together. About the only way I've found to get the E-flat, with my thumb, is to move my hand in far enough that I'm playing the G and A between the black keys, and my fingers feel fat.

Is that the correct way to play that combination? Is it common in other situations to have to play in that far?

It is very common and often necessary to play far between the black keys.

[dima_76557]

Alfred, page 67, "Got Those Blues"

This one?

Just watch. As I understand, it is meant as a tutorial. Not very exciting but it will answer your question.
P.S.: I think you shouldn't even go as deep as that person. You can touch the black key just at its edge with your thumb, about 1 cm back. It also looks as if she is afraid of missing that E flat, so she keeps her thumb there, but actually, you can close the hand a little bit and open it again as soon as you have to play that E flat again. There is also no need for the slight deviation she does. It is usually better and more comfortable to keep your arm aligned straight behind the hand.

[gregh]

Okay, thank you, both. Going between the black keys seemed somehow, I don't know, "unofficial", so it's a little reassuring to know that it's routinely done. I don't think Alfred really explained it anywhere.

[ajspiano]

Okay, thank you, both. Going between the black keys seemed somehow, I don't know, "unofficial", so it's a little reassuring to know that it's routinely done. I don't think Alfred really explained it anywhere.

To site one example -
Seymour fink (he wrote a book called "mastering piano technique") makes an initial point of defining different levels of depth into the keyboard, white, grey and black I think he uses for a progression from out of the keys to deep into the keys.

The most raw explanation is that if you play a black key with the thumb you don't want to also curl up the fingers and/or twist the wrist around to allow you play other fingers out in the white key only area. Its possible to do those things but in general they tend to lock you up physically and limit the control and freedom you have in playing.

As dima said, the best choice is to remain "aligned" so to speak, where you feel most comfortable, and your fingers can do the work of playing the keys, not getting to where they will touch the keys (which loosely explained is more of an arm task).

You may also find you can avoid the feeling of "fat fingers" if you allow there to be just a tiny sense of "forward pressure" from your arm as you play (don't over do it, or allow it to replace your fingers). Experiment.

.......

Technical explanations like this are a little beyond the scope of alfred (or method books in general), and are one of the big reasons to have a teacher.