The C Major Scale With The Left Hand

In the previous lessons, we learned how to play the C Major Scale with the right hand, as well as play "Mary Had A Little Lamb" with both the right hand and left hand.

Now, let's learn how to play the C major scale with the Left Hand (LH). We will start with the 5-note version:

Like the Right Hand (RH), we will place our 5 fingers on the notes C D E F G, but this time it is reversed - the pinky (5th finger) is on the C, while the thumb (1st finger) is on the G.

So instead of starting with the thumb as we did with the right hand, we're going to start with the pinky here, and play the sequence C D E F G (going up the scale) and G F E D C (going down the scale).

Next, let's learn how to play the full 8-note C Major Scale:

Like the RH scale, we have a turn in the middle, but it happens at a different point. Whereas the RH scale turned between the 3rd and 4th notes (E and F), the LH scale will turn between the 5th and 6th notes (G and A).

So you will play the notes C D E F G with the fingers 5 4 3 2 1 like before, but now when you reach the G note, you will cross over the 3rd finger over the 1st finger like this:

From there on, you can play the remaining 3 notes of the scale (A, B, C) with the fingers 3, 2, 1.

Going back down, we need to remember the order that we came up, and play the same notes going in reverse, but with the same fingers that we used going up.

Play C B A with the first 3 fingers (1, 2, 3) and then crossover your thumb underneath the 3rd finger to play the G after you hit the A with your 3rd finger.

Once you cross over, you can play the remaining 5 notes of the scale (G, F, E, D, C) with the fingers 5-4-3-2-1.

That's it for the LH C Major scale. Now, you can practice going up and down the scale with your left hand, making sure to cross over between the notes G and A.