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A Thousand Miles – Piano Tutorial with Letter Notes

a thousand miles piano notes letters

Would you like to learn how to play the notes of the song A Thousand Miles on the piano? You’ve come to the right place!

Vanessa Carlton’s A Thousand Miles was released in 2002. The song is the first single from her album “Be Not Nobody”. Carlton wrote the song while still a music student at the School of American Ballet. The song is about love and the desire to get closer to someone who is far away. It is best known for the catchy, melodic piano riff that opens the song, which has become iconic and instantly recognizable. A Thousand Miles became one of the most iconic songs of the 2000s and remains a pop culture favorite.

To learn how to play this song on the piano, we’ll guide you step by step in this article, to give you all the keys to playing it to perfection.

We’ll start with the notes for the right hand, then move on to those for the left. Finally, we’ll combine both hands to play the whole piece. This tutorial includes images and videos to make your learning more enjoyable and interactive.

At the end of the article, you’ll be able to download the score of the song in PDF format, so you can play it wherever you are.

If you’re ready, let’s get started!

Bonus : you can also learn to play this song at your own pace on our interactive piano learning app La Touche Musicale.

Contents

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A Thousand Miles on the piano: finding your way around the keyboard

Before diving into the world of A Thousand Miles music, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the piano keyboard. To do so, take a look at the image below:

piano keyboard notes

The name of the notes on a piano keyboard.

Look closely at the diagram of the piano keyboard above. You’ll notice that the black keys follow a regular pattern: two keys, then three, and this is repeated along the entire length of the keyboard.

To start exploring the notes, concentrate on the groups of two black keys. The white key immediately to the left of each group is the C note. This way, you can easily locate all the C notes on your keyboard. Use this method to identify the other notes based on the groups of black keys.

Playing notes to the left of the keyboard takes you down into the lower register, while playing to the right takes you up into the upper register.

This is essential to mastering A Thousand Miles. Once you’ve mastered these concepts, practice regularly to familiarize yourself with all the notes on the piano. If you find it difficult at first, associate each note with a specific color to make it easier to identify. You can also learn to recognize the intervals between notes, which will make it easier to find them.

A Thousand Miles : playing the notes with the right hand

Where to start?

Congratulations, you now know your way around a piano keyboard! Now we can dive into the musical world of A Thousand Miles.

To begin with, we’ll show you the first note to play with the right hand: G

a thousand miles first notes piano right hand

The note G is the first note to be played with your right hand in A Thousand Miles on piano.

The notes of the right hand

Congratulations! You’ve successfully played the first note with your right hand on your keyboard. Now we’re going to learn all the other notes for the right hand.

G – G – G – G – D – D – E – D – D – E – D – D – D – C – E – C – C – C – C – C – C – C – C – C – G – G – G – E – E – E – D – E – D – D – D – E – D – D – D – C – E – D – C – C – C – C – C – E – D – C – C – C – C – E – D – C – C – C – C – C – C – C – E – D – C – C – C – C – C – C – C – E – D – C – C – C – C – C – C – E – C – C

Did you manage to play all these notes? To help you, try to identify the musical notes that repeat. At first sight, this piece may seem complex, but by identifying the passages where the notes repeat, you’ll be able to play it with greater ease.

Once you’re comfortable with the right-hand notes, we’ll move on to learning the left-hand ones.

a thousand miles piano notes right hand

A Thousand Miles on the piano: the notes of the right hand.

Video tutorial

To make learning easier, we suggest you watch this video, which shows all the notes to be played with the right hand.

This video will help you familiarize yourself with the location of each note and the rhythm to follow. You’ll be able to synchronize your keyboard playing with the notes displayed on the virtual keyboard.

Feel free to watch this tutorial as many times as necessary to fully assimilate the information.

Video tutorial of the notes to play with the right hand for the song A Thousand Miles

Congratulations, you’ve now mastered all the notes for the right hand! Now let’s move on to learning the notes for the left hand.

What’s the difference between the roles of the hands on the piano? The right hand generally plays the main melody, while the left hand accompanies this melody by playing chords or basses.

La Touche Musicale app waits for you to play the right note with your right hand on your piano before moving on to the next one.

A Thousand Miles playing the notes with the left hand

Where to start?

For the left hand, we’ll follow the same procedure as for the right hand.

First, we’ll identify the first note to be played: the note F

a thousand miles first notes piano left hand

The note F is the first note to be played with your left hand for the song A Thousand Miles on piano.

The notes of the left hand

Congratulations on successfully playing the first notes of the left hand of A Thousand Miles on your piano! Excellent work! Now let’s continue by playing all the left-hand notes in succession. Simply play them one by one on your keyboard.

F – G – E – F – F – G – G – A – B – G – G – B – G – G – F – G – E – F – F – G – E – F – B – G – B – G – G – G – G – G – G – G – G – G – G – G – G – G – G – E – B + F

Have you managed to play all the notes with your left hand? To improve your playing, practice repeating these notes over and over until you feel comfortable.

Once you’ve done that, you can move on to learning the famous A Thousand Miles by playing with both hands simultaneously.

 

a thousand miles piano notes left hand

A Thousand Miles on the piano: the notes of the left hand.

Video tutorial

To make things easier for you, we’ve put together a video tutorial.

We recommend that you watch this video to make learning more enjoyable. Play the notes displayed on the on-screen virtual keyboard on your piano.

At first, you can slow down the pace of the video to familiarize yourself with the musical notes.

Video tutorial of the left hand notes for the song A Thousand Miles

The La Touche Musicale app waits for you to play the correct note with your left hand on your piano before moving on to the next.

Congratulations, you’ve now mastered all the notes of A Thousand Miles.

We’ll now guide you through synchronizing your two hands so that you can play the entire piece with both hands simultaneously.

 

 

A Thousand Miles on the piano: play the song with both hands

Advice

Playing the piano simultaneously with both hands can be a challenge, especially for beginners. Coordinating the movements of both hands while maintaining a precise rhythm can seem complex. Fortunately, the La Touche Musicale application allows you to progress at your own pace, offering invaluable support.

To overcome this obstacle, practice exercises in which each hand plays different scores at different rhythms. This will help you improve hand coordination.

To make further progress, record yourself playing, or play in front of others. This will enable you to identify and correct certain mistakes.

Remember to be patient and not too hard on yourself. Fun and enjoyment are essential to progress.

a thousand miles piano notes both hands

A Thousand Miles on the piano: the notes of both hands.

Video tutorial

In this last video, you’ll learn how to play A Thousand Miles with both hands simultaneously on the piano. Follow the notes on the screen and play them on your keyboard. If the pace of the video is too fast, you can slow it down or pause it.

However, pausing to adjust your fingers or go back can be tedious. For a smoother experience, consider using the La Touche Musicale application. This interactive application accompanies you as you learn, and can be connected directly to your piano. It will wait for you to play the notes correctly before moving on. We recommend that you use this application in conjunction with our guide for optimum progress.

What’s more, our app offers a vast selection of tunes to suit all styles and skill levels. Whatever your level, it will help you progress and perfect your playing. Are you ready to join us now?

Video tutorial to play the notes of both hands of the song A Thousand Miles on the piano.

Ajoutez votre titre ici

The La Touche Musicale app waits for you to play the right notes with both hands on your piano before moving on to the next.

Well done! You’ve successfully interpreted A Thousand Miles on the piano. You can be proud of your performance. However, to maintain this positive momentum, it’s essential to keep practicing. We invite you to discover three other tutorials that are sure to catch your interest:

Download the free piano sheet music of the song A Thousand Miles in PDF

The main aim of this article was to guide you through learning A Thousand Miles on the piano. However, we think it would be beneficial for you to have a score at hand, enabling you to play this piece wherever you are. To download the score, please click on this link.

If you’re looking for a personalized learning experience, tailored to your own pace and needs, we also recommend downloading our La Touche Musicale app.

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