Tetris Theme: bars 9–12

Lesson 11 · about 15 minutes · add the next four-bar phrase

Today's win: play bars 9–12 with both hands, three clean runs in a row, with the left-hand changes relaxed.

1 · Warm-up: bars 1–8, cold

Play the first eight bars once from memory, with the score and note-name hints hidden. Check the score afterwards; if a note is fuzzy, restart that bar instead of stopping the passage.

2 · Reset the left hand

At the start of bar 7, the left hand moves from pinky on C3 to thumb on B3, which is to the right of C3. (B4 is the right-hand melody note there; the left-hand bass is B3.) Practise just the left-hand move slowly: release C3, shift up to B3, and play it with your thumb.

3 · Read bars 9–12

Keep Octave 0 and Transpose 0. The left hand keeps the eighth-note pulse, moving A3, G♯3, A3, then B3, one note per bar. The source bass is raised an octave so it fits the PSS-A50. In the right hand, the first three bars each have two melody notes; bar 12 has one note at the start. Count each bar “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &”.These are rows 9–12 of Virtual Piano's Tetris Theme (Alternative). The source's shifted 5 and O labels are G♯ notes; the bass is raised one octave to fit the keyboard.

4 · Right hand alone

Use this suggested fingering (1 = thumb, 2 = index, 3 = middle, 4 = ring, 5 = pinky). Set your hand over A4–E5: thumb on A4 and one finger on each next white key up to pinky on E5. Then play:

Leave the spaces between notes quiet and let the left hand keep the pulse underneath. These fingerings are a practical suggestion, not part of the source arrangement.

5 · Left hand alone

Play one bass note on each eighth-note step: A3 for a bar, then G♯3, A3, and B3. Lift and reset at the bar line; aim for an even pulse, not a held hand position.

6 · Bars 9–12, both hands

Start slowly and keep the bass pulse even. Let the right hand enter only where the score shows a note. If the hands tangle, practise that bar alone, then join it to the next bar.

7 · Connect bars 1–12

Play the whole twelve bars once without stopping. The new phrase starts on A3, straight after the A3 bass at the end of bar 8.

8 · Check yourself

9 · The next three days

  1. Tomorrow: play bars 1–8 cold, then bars 9–12 right hand alone with note names hidden.
  2. Day after: repeat the pinky-to-thumb change slowly, then practise bars 9–12 hands separately and together.
  3. Day 3: play bars 1–12 without stopping. Keep the left-hand pulse even through each bar change.
Primary source: Virtual Piano's “Tetris Theme (Alternative)” sheet Virtual Piano · note labels, 120 bpm. This lesson converts rows nine through twelve to staff notation; the complete sheet remains at the source.
Was the pinky-to-thumb change easier after isolating it? Tell me how many clean runs you got and which bar still needs work.

Previous: Lesson 10 (Tetris, bars 5–8) · Next: Lesson 12, bars 13–16 · Keyboard map · Glossary