Basic understanding of synthesia

papajo · Post by **papajo** » 11-12-15 6:20 am

Hello, I am a total beginner and cant understand some things... I searched on synthesia FAQ about them (my questions are about hand placement and fingering) but what I found was about how to arrange the colours of your own midi files etc...

I cant understand the numbers for example when I see on the bar the number "1" I assume I should puck the key to the corresponding bar/note with my index finger (or is it the pointer? ) if I see the number "5" with my pinky and so on...

But I getting confused since even at "easy" midis there are some swapping of the sides and fingers... for example on "amazing grace" the easy version in synthesia this is how I place my hands (if I am placing them wrong then please tell me how and most of all WHY -so that understand why im placing them that way = why is it more accurate to do so)

I mean its an easy song it hasnt yet started and I am already confused... how to put my forth finger of my left hand in that note? (because if I do that it means that my 3rd finger has to go next to that my 2nd next to that and my 1st has to overlap the 1st finger of my right hand... )

and if that wasnt enough there is a part that confuses me even more!!!

I mean what should I do here since c4 was designated previously by synthesia for the 1st finger of my right hand... why not not hit it with the 1st finger of my right hand and instead hit it with the 1st finger of my left hand? its not only that its confusing i find it counter intuitive i would be more comfortable to push c4 with my 1st finger of my right hand (green) since I had that finger hovering already there..... pelase explain in detail to me what should this happen (I mean dont just tell me to do it because its right but also what does it help or why is it right otherwise I wont be able to understand..

)

And bellow again:

While ALL the other note keys are close to each other and to be hitby the right hand (green colour) and while my 1st finger of my right hand already is on c4 for some bizarre reason I have to push that note with the 1st finger of my left hand (blue..) its frustrating why should I have to do that? is there some piano theory backing this method up?

I downloaded some classical midis which are vastly more complicated and synthesia used similar confusing schemes to interpret the hand placement (one blue bar on the extreme right of the tablature among green bars while having other blue bars on the extreme left.... like as if I had 20 cm gingers that could make a spagato... and also some orange colours!! what does that even mean?) at first I thought it was just a buggy interpretation caused by synthesia not being able to predict the hand placement.. but after being so confusing even at an easy few notes song like the above I start to think that maybe I should get familiarised with advanced handplacement for piano first because it seems that I struggle to understand it

I hope that somebody here would be able to help me out

Thanks in advance anyway

advalencia · Post by **advalencia** » 11-12-15 8:53 am

In this example both thumbs are sharing the middle C key, there's a lot of discussions about the pedagogical benefits of this exercise (coordination would be my guess, but my understanding of piano is really basic too haha)
here's a long discussion if you want to give it a read
http://pianoadventures.com/forum/ubbthr ... mber=24216

papajo · Post by **papajo** » 12-08-15 1:29 am

I was hoping for a little help

jimhenry · Post by **jimhenry** » 12-08-15 2:28 am

Synthesia is a tool for practicing at the piano. It is not a program to teach you to play the piano. Ideally you would take lessons from a private instructor. Or perhaps take group piano lessons. When you are starting on piano there are a lot of physical details that are best taught by a live teacher who can demonstrate things and see what you are doing. If neither of those things are possible for you, at least get a good book that introduces you to the piano. There are also video course and instructional computer programs. What is a "good" book or good self-study program will depend a lot on what kind of learner you are and what kind of music you hope to eventually play. You can teach yourself to play piano but, for most people, progress will be slow and you will pick up bad habits that will limit how far you can go.

monkel · Post by **monkel** » 12-10-15 11:35 am

And also fingering can be very subjective - what you might find comfortable might be not so good for others and vice versa. Treat them as suggestions (after having had some basic intro as jimhenry correctly states).