From Zero to Mozart
Stage 1First position & the staffLesson 12 of 43 · Left hand

One pitch, more than one place

A written note usually has one obvious place in first position — but not always. When it has more than one, this course gives you the beginner default and tells you it's a choice.

The same-pitch checks

Your 4th finger reaches the pitch of the next open string up — exactly:

4th finger on…= open string
G string, 4th fingeropen D
D string, 4th fingeropen A
A string, 4th fingeropen E

Play the 4th-finger note, then the open string. In tune, they're identical — the same pitch, two ways to reach it. This is a free tuning check for the 4th finger, on every string.

48 bpm
4th finger on the D string, then the open A. Same pitch. If they don't match, your whole hand has drifted — slide it until they lock.

Two notes, each with two homes

48 bpm
The written A: open A string, then 4th finger on the D — same pitch, two homes. Then the written E: open E string, then 4th finger on the A — same again. Play each pair back to back and hear them match. The fingering is your choice.

Which one do you play?

Mostly the one that avoids a string crossing. If a phrase is sitting on the A string and touches an E, the open E keeps you there — no need to cross to the E string for one note. Later, tone and phrasing change the answer; for now, stay on the string you're on.

The usual mistake — the octave trap

The 4th finger on the G string is open D — the D just above the low open G, a fourth up. It is not another low G. And the 3rd finger on the D string is G, but the G an octave above the open G string — a completely different pitch. Same letter, different octave: check the staff position, not just the name.

48 bpm
Open G, then 3rd finger G on the D string. Same letter — an octave apart, clearly two different notes. Hear the gap. The staff shows one low on ledger lines, one on the second line.

Try

Play these pairs and listen for them to become one sound: G-string 4 ↔ open D · D-string 4 ↔ open A · A-string 4 ↔ open E. Then play D-string 3rd-finger G and open G — hear that they're an octave apart, not the same.