Idiot beginner can't find correct octave on piano
 

Hi Folks.

I'm a raw beginner, and I'm trying to teach myself to play Hallelujah on electric piano from a youtube video.

I have what I suspect is a highly embarrassing question to ask.

The video (youtube title ""Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen - beginner piano arrangement + free score!"; note that I haven't done enough posts to include a URL here) shows the right hand beginning with the G between C3 and C4. This would be G3, right?

In the video's comment section is a pointer to the sheet music on Musophone (again, I regret that I'm not allowed to post a URL.

The sheet music shows the first right hand note as being the G above middle C.

But, middle C is C4, isn't it? So, wouldn't the first right-hand note be G4?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Ralph

P.S. Please forgive me if I am posting this in the wrong subforum.

Sounds weird, but G4 sounds like a more natural starting point for right hand unless you're sitting closer to the lower register (some songs are like that too, of course).

My tip would anyways be to use the video and sheet music as a rough guide. Just play it at the octave that makes sense to you :)

Guybrush, thank you for the reply!

I realize now that my initial post implied two issues:

• Which are the correct piano keys for playing this song?
• I can't reconcile the keys being played in the video with the sheet music. Presumably, I am interpreting either the video or the sheet music incorrectly. Please educate me as to where my mistake is, because I am making a very fundamental mistake that I would like to correct.

Your reply makes perfect sense with respect to the first item, above, so thank you very much for that!

Ralph

The song can be played anywhere on the piano and even Leonard Cohen might have changed that up over the years. You could start in C#4 if you want or F. I don't know what Leonard Cohen did on his first recording (whatever suited his voice and the vibe he wanted), but it doesn't have to matter much.

If the video and sheet music were not published together, it makes sense that they may vary.

For keys, it is generally easy for beginners to play in the keys of C or Am because you can more often ignore black keys that way.

Again, thanks for the reply, Guybrush.

When I play G4 on my piano the note sounds like the key that I am interpreting as being G3 in the video. So, I seem to be incorrectly applying sheet music in general to individual keyboard keys. I'll have to sort that out somehow.

I know the question has been answered, but I just wanted to say don't be so hard on yourself. You have to be patient with yourself - learn it step by step, and motivate yourself with each step you make.

Even when you sometimes feel you're going in circles, a lot of this comes with time, with your brain automating things. Just give it time, keep at it and stay motivated

Thanks for the encouragement, Danzaburou!

Actually, I'm not considering giving up on learning piano. I'm very much enjoying the 'piano journey'! I realize that tend to be too hard on myself wrt needing to understand everything that is going on.

I'll figure out the 'octave thing' eventually.

- Ralph