Playing, Part 1 · Chapter 5: Left-Hand Songs in C Position

The Left-Hand C Position

Next, we'll put the left hand in C Position. For this, you'll rest the pinkie of the left hand on the C below middle C, and the thumb on the G below middle C, with the other fingers evenly spread out on the white keys in between:

Diagram: left-hand C Position, pinkie on low C and thumb on G

Now we're going to play our first song in left-hand C Position, “Dry Bones.” Look it over, then get your hand into place and give it a go, remembering all the same things we concentrated on with the right-hand songs: fingering, counting, even tempo, singing along, etc. After that, have a listen to track 5 and then play along.

Sheet music: "Dry Bones" in left-hand C Position with a pickup measure

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Notice that at the beginning of this song we again have a “pickup measure.” Even though the normal 4/4 time signature is shown at the beginning of the first line, there is only one beat in the first measure. This note is, therefore, the 4th beat of the measure, so we're actually resting for the first three beats.

Now on to our next song using the left-hand C Position, “Home Sweet Home.” Give it a whirl, and then listen to track 6:

Sheet music: "Home Sweet Home" in left-hand C Position with a pickup measure

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Yup, you guessed it—there's another pickup measure at the start of this song, this time we have C and D being played on beats 3 and 4.

All of these songs have fingerings added, so make sure that you use them, and stay within the hand position shown. Have fun!

See scores on MuseScore