So far, you’ve been reading along with songs that all have the same anchor note. And now, we’ll keep reading in the same shapes, but open up the playlist to include songs where the anchor can be any note of the shape [playlist].
This means rather than always starting with your middle fingers in the middle of the groups of three top keys, you could start on any note of the shape, depending on the song [skip songs to an anchor in the group of two].
It’s still the exact same fingering pattern, and you still start by aligning your fingers that stick up with the keys that stick up, and then moving into the shape. But if your anchor is near the group of two top keys, you want to start by aligning your fingers with that group, rather than the group of three, and go from there.
The notation has become a little more flexible, too. Because now, the anchor clef—the little black arrow that shows the position of the anchor note on the staff—can be anywhere on the staff. So far it’s always placed the anchor on the middle line [show], but now it can be on any line or space.
This means you start reading the notation by playing whichever note is the anchor note of the song, starting from whichever line or space the anchor clef is pointing to.
So for this song, the anchor note is here [show], near the group of two top keys, and the anchor clef is on the second line from the bottom of the staff [show]. So this note here [show on staff] will be the anchor note of the song.
If I choose a different song with a different anchor note [skip songs], now, this same note on the staff represents the new anchor note for the new song.
[front cam] So a song’s anchor note, and its placement on the staff are independent. Any anchor note can be in any position on the staff.
Moving the anchor clef lets the notation represent a greater range of notes in the shape. So you might find yourself not only pivoting to the next group of two top keys, like before [show], but also pivoting again, to another group of three top keys [show]. Which means that now, as you’re reading, you’re covering the full range of your fingering pattern in each shape.
So give it a try. And as you play, pay extra attention to the feeling of how each note is a tension that wants to pull back to the anchor. Because it’s that feeling of the anchor note, and the relationship of the other notes to it, that the notation is trying to represent.
And when you feel comfortable reading in different shapes and anchors along with the moveable anchor clef, that’s when you’re ready to come back for more.
Notation: Moveable Anchor