FoundationsLesson 14 of 30 · Reaching down
M and B: the inward drop
The index fingers reach down and inward. B is the most awkward key on the board; M is common enough to make up for it.
- New keys
- MB
- To pass
- Done when the check reaches 92% accuracy and 13 words a minute.
Lesson 14 is locked
It opens when you pass the check in lesson 13 (N and V: reaching down). Lessons open one at a time, in order.
M sits below and to the right of J; B sits below and to the right of F, in the middle of the bottom row where the two hands meet. Both are index-finger keys, and both are reached down and inward, the mirror of the upward stretch to T and Y. M is easy enough: the right index finger curls down and leans one key to the right. B is the awkward one. It is the furthest key from any home position on the whole letter block, and it is where the left hand most wants to swing across to help.
It must not. B is a left index finger key, always. If you let the right index finger take it, you will find that the word bring goes wrong every time, because both letters would belong to the same finger and it cannot be in two places. Reach for B with the left index, and accept that it is a long reach. Everybody's is.
With M and B the words that make up everyday writing arrive: me, my, make, more, some, time, them, from, must, may, much, by, be, but, been, about. The index fingers now own six keys each, and the good news is that this is as busy as any finger gets. The middle, ring and little fingers each have only one bottom-row key left to learn.
me my make more some time them from must may much by be but been about