Black keys and bar 4

Lesson 4 · about 15 minutes · a better left-hand position, your first black keys, and the end of the first phrase

Bar 4 finishes the opening phrase of the Moonlight Sonata. It also brings your first black keys. Before that, we'll fix the awkward left-hand jump from lesson 3.

Today's win: play bars 1–4, the whole first phrase, with both hands, three clean runs in a row.

1 · Fix the jump: a new left-hand position

In lesson 3 the bass jumped up from C to A, because your keyboard ends at that low C. Beethoven's bass goes down instead: one step at a time, then one step back up.The left hand in the Mutopia source of the 1908 edition: C♯, B, A–F♯, G♯–G♯ (bars 1–4). Transposed to E minor that's E, D, C–A, B–B. Mutopia Project.

The fix is to move the left hand up one octave, to the second C. Then the whole bass line fits under five fingers, one key each, with no jumps:

Bar	1	2	3	4
Bass	E	D	C then A	B, played twice
LH finger	1 (thumb)	2	3, then 5	4

Your pinky rests on the A just below the second C, and your thumb on the E above it.

Then set Octave to −1 on the keyboard. Everything will sound an octave lower, so the bass gets back its depth, and both hands sound close to where Beethoven wrote them. The drills grade by note name, so they work at any octave setting.

Tinted: the new left-hand position. Pinky on A, thumb on E.

Play the bass line on its own, three times through, with the left hand only. Notice that the hand doesn't move.

2 · Black-key names

One rule: ♯ (sharp) means the black key just to the right. D♯ is the black key just right of D. F♯ is the black key just right of F.Each black key has two names. D♯ is also E♭ ("E flat", the black key just left of E). This course uses the ♯ names because the Moonlight score does. See musictheory.net, "Steps and Accidentals".

With your landmarks:

Two-group: C♯ on the left, D♯ on the right.
Three-group: F♯, G♯, A♯, left to right.

The drill below mixes black and white keys. Bar 4 needs D♯ and F♯, so watch for those. Start with key names hidden. If you get stuck, show them for one round, then hide them again.

3 · Bar 4

Every triplet in bar 4 is a different shape. The thumb stays on B for three triplets, then steps down to A for the last one.

Triplet	Right hand	Fingers	Left hand
1	B D♯ A	1 2 5	B (finger 4)
2	B E G	1 3 5	hold
3	B E F♯	1 4 5	B again
4	A D♯ F♯	1 3 5	hold

Fingerings from the 1908 edition, bar 4. The original (C♯ minor) is G♯ B♯ F♯ · G♯ C♯ E · G♯ C♯ D♯ · F♯ B♯ D♯.Triplet 2 is your old Moonlight shape, B E G. Three new shapes, then, around one you already know.

Tinted: all the right-hand keys in bar 4. B is the thumb's home key.

Right hand alone first. Slowly. The grader doesn't time you.

Now both hands. The left-hand B lands with the first triplet and again with the third.

4 · Bars 1–4: the first phrase

Everything together, with the new left-hand position. Bars 1–3 have the same notes as before, but the left hand is in a new place, so expect a slip or two at first. Count "one-and-a, two-and-a…" for each bar.

After three clean runs, play it once away from the screen, softly.

5 · Check yourself

6 · The next three days

Tomorrow: bars 1–4 cold, with no warm-up, then three clean runs. If a bar keeps slipping, drill only that bar.
Day after: the black-key name drill once, then bars 1–4 away from the screen, 5 times, counting out loud.
Day 3: play the phrase very softly, letting the bass ring. Then tell me how it went, and we'll start on bar 5 or on your second song, your choice.

Primary source: listen for the phrase Play a recording from IMSLP and stop at the end of bar 4, about 15 seconds in. Hear how the bass steps down and then back up one step, and how bar 4 sounds unfinished, as if it's waiting to resolve. That's the phrase you can now play.

Share it. Four bars with both hands is a good point to record yourself on your phone and post it. r/AdultPianoStudents and r/pianolearning are friendly to beginners. Mention you're on a 37-key keyboard with no pedal. People there will give you advice on touch and evenness that a drill can't.

Is the new left-hand position confusing, are you mixing up the black keys, or is a shape in bar 4 not sitting right? Ask me. I'm your teacher, and that's what I'm here for.

Previous: Lesson 3 · Reference: Keyboard map · Glossary · Next: Lesson 5 (bar 5, the melody enters)