Beginning Piano Lessons: The Piano Key Names

In this lesson I will teach you about the names of the white keys on the piano.

Before we get into that, let’s talk briefly about the tuning system of the piano. This system is called “equal temperament” and its when an octave (like from one C to the next higher C) is divided it into 12 equal parts, making 12 evenly spaced pitches. This includes both white and black keys. The octaves on a piano are the only in-tune interval, while everything else is a little out of tune. The interval of a fifth is slightly flat, and the major thirds are slightly sharp.

Equal temperament allows us to play in any key and have everything sound proportionally the same. The drawback is that the intervals between the notes are not perfectly in tune but most normal people cannot tell the difference.

Pitch in music refers to the highness or lowness of a sound. When we go to the left on the piano, pitches go lower, and the frequency is smaller. When we go to the right, pitches on the piano go higher and they increase in frequency. Lower is to the left, higher is to the right. On my piano, which is a Concert Grand with 88 keys, I have 88 different pitches, which are arranged in a pattern of 12 notes—equally spaced—that repeat over and over again.

Pitches are named using the first 7 letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G which are the names of the 7 white keys on the keyboard.

Let’s look at keys: Black keys are arranged in groups of 2 and groups of 3. This helps identify the names of the white keys. If there were no black keys it would be impossible to know where you are on the piano.

The easiest note to find is Middle C. Locate the middle of your piano usually where the brand of piano is located. Find a group of two black keys and go down one half step from the left black key. This note is Middle C.

Let’s find all the C’s on the piano. All C’s look alike and there are 8 C’s total on an 88-key piano.

Which white key is one step lower than C ? What is one step before C in the music alphabet? B. Let’s find all the B’s on the piano

From C, we can find any other note on the piano.

Are there any shortcuts? Not really. In the end, you just have to keep practicing them until they are memorized.

Homework:

1) Find all A’s on piano, B’s, C’s, D’s, E’s, ‘s, G’s. It can help you memorize the notes if you say them out loud.

2) Name the notes in an octave going from A to A, B, to B, C to C, etc. Then try it backwards.

3) Start at lowest note on the piano and name all notes one by one going up and down

4) pick random notes and name them. Sometimes it’s easier of someone can randomly pick a note for you.

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