In this lesson, we will take a look at piano notes and keys. You will learn the notes which correspond to the white piano keys as well as the black ones. I will show you how easy it is to label all the keys of your keyboard, no matter how many it has. This includes 88-key, 76-key, 61-key, 49-key and other keyboards.
Take a look at the unlabeled piano keyboard diagram above. Do you see the pattern of the black keys? If you look closely, you will notice that the black keys follow a pattern of twos and threes. It’s a pattern of two black keys followed by three black keys, followed by two black keys, followed by three black keys and so on. The same applies to every piano keyboard.
Location of C:
'All of the Lights' was released on 25 Nov 2010 as the fourth single taken from Kanye West's fifth studio album, 'Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' (2010). It is a hip hop song, which features Rihanna on the vocals, as well as several other uncredited artists. Knowing how to play all the major and minor chords on the piano will help you play any song that you might want to learn. And you won’t get stuck when you see a chord you don’t know because there won’t BE a chord you don’t know. Piano Technique Made Easy will show you every major and minor chord in every key signature. How to play the piano, I am taking a step in the right direction. Allow me to take you on my 4-month journey where I taught myself how to play the piano at no cost. Keep in mind - 4 months is not at all enough time to master the piano. Every individual naturally learns at a different speed. Having past musical experience can also be a great.
The first note we shall find is the note, C. What key plays the note, C on your keyboard? C is played with the white key that comes immediately before a set of two black keys. In other words, the key that is to the immediate left of a set of two black keys plays the note, C. There are several C notes on your keyboard. Every white key that comes immediately before a set of two black keys plays C.
Watch corresponding video:
Create and get +5 IQ. Chords Am Em F G Intro Am, C, F, G (repeated throughout with the capo on the first fret) Verse Am Em F Turn up the lights in here baby F G Extra bright, I want y'all to see this Am Em F Turn up the lights in here, baby F You know what I need G Want you to see everything Am Want you to see all of the lights. When you play C and F, you'll play the F on the left hand. You'll only play the F once and leave your finger on the note as you play the right hand the other two times. Then you'll switch the left hand to C# for the C# and F and repeat what you just did before with the last note.
As a beginner, there is an important note that you should know. It’s called middle C. How do you find middle C on the 88 key piano? Sit at the center of your piano. The C which is below your chin plays the note, middle C. Middle C is not exactly in the middle of the keyboard, but it’s the centermost C. In sheet music, middle C is the note halfway between the bass clef and the treble clef.
Piano notes are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet. These notes are (obviously) A, B, C, D, E, F and G. These are the notes of the entire musical alphabet. There is no H. A B C D E F G keeps repeating.
Now that you know where C is located, it’s easy to find the other notes. Move to the next white key. That key plays the note, D. The next key plays E. keep going in alphabetical order to F, then G, followed by A. You will notice that we went back to the start of the alphabet. From G we went back to A. Finally, after A, we move to B. You can continue going to C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G and so on until you run out of keys. C-D-E-F-G-A-B are called naturals because they contain no sharps or flats which we shall learn more about later.
Location of F:
F is located before a set of three black keys. Every key before a set of three black keys on your piano keyboard plays the note F. Now that you’ve found F, it’s easy to label the other white keys. Simply move in alphabetical order to G, A, B, C, D, E and back to F.
How about the black keys? What are their names? Or to be a bit more precise, what notes do they play? Like the white keys, the black keys are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet except for the fact that they can be either sharp or flat.
Simply put, sharp means to go higher or to move to the right on your keyboard. Sharp suggests that you should play the key that is to the immediate right of a key. For instance, C sharp means to play the key that is to the immediate right of C. C sharp is a half step (or semitone) higher than C. Sharp is represented by the symbol, ♯ or #.
In simple terms, flat means to go lower or to move to the left on your keyboard. Flat suggests that you should play the key that is to the immediate left of a key. For instance, D flat means to play the key that is to the immediate left of D. D flat is a half step (or semitone) lower than D. Flat is represented by the symbol, ♭ or b.
Once again, what is the key to the immediate right of C called? The answer is C sharp (C#). This key can also be called D flat (Db) because it is one key to the left of D. The next black key is called D sharp (D#) or E flat (Eb). Then we move to F sharp (F#) or G flat (Gb), G sharp (G#) or A flat (Ab) and lastly A sharp (A#) or B flat (Bb). As is the case with the white piano keys, the pattern keeps repeating. After B flat (Bb), the next black key plays C sharp (or D flat), D sharp (or E flat) and so on.
What we’ve talked about so far is really a simplified approach to looking at piano notes. In reality piano notes and piano keys are not the same. Each key of the piano can represent several notes. Strictly speaking piano keys don’t really have names. Keys aren’t actually called C, D, E, F, G, etc. They just play those notes. The same keys play other notes as well. This is important to understand especially when one is learning to read music, as well as musical scales.
The piano diagram above shows the various piano notes that piano keys usually correspond to.
Earlier, we saw that a piano key has more than one note name. A better way to put this is that one piano key can play more than one note. For example, the key that plays D flat can also play C sharp. When keys play more than one note, the notes are called enharmonic equivalents. So D flat and C sharp are enharmonic equivalents. The same can be said of D sharp and E flat. These enharmonic equivalents are played by the same key on the piano keyboard and sound the same on piano, but can have different note names depending on the key signature and other factors.
Even white keys have enharmonic equivalents. The key that plays C can also play B sharp (B#) since B# is one half step higher than B. The piano key that plays F can also play E sharp (E#) since E# is one half step higher than E. The key that plays E can also play F flat (Fb) since Fb is one half step lower than F. Learn more about half steps, whole steps, tones, semitones, sharps and flats here.
Sometimes a piano note can be called a double flat or double sharp, or even a triple sharp or flat. For instance, D is two semitones lower than E and the key that plays D can also play E double flat (Ebb). Double sharps and flats and triple sharps and flats are not as common.
Here’s a diagram of a piano keyboard, showing enharmonics.
The sign which looks like the letter “x” is a double sharp sign. The sign which looks like two flat signs side-by-side is a double flat.
Full 88 key piano keyboard diagram
On an 88 key piano, the lowest key (first note) is an A. There are 8 Cs. The last note is C. There are 52 white and 36 black keys. Here’s an image of piano notes on an 88 key piano: Click here for a picture of an 88 key piano keyboard layout.
Piano Notes Chart
The chart below shows you the notes on the grand staff, and where they are on the piano. Learn how to read piano notes here.
My new book will teach you how to read music. Go here to check out my book, “How To Read Music Fast, A 4-Step Beginner’s Guide To Reading Music Quickly and Easily”.
Related Pages (Piano Notes and Basic Music Theory):
Comments
comments
It's time for Light & Reflections again! This month's theme is music and movement and well, music is kind of my specialty. We have done many music themed activities using light in the past, including music matching on the light table, music play on the overhead projector, and rainbow drums on the light table. However, I wanted to switch things up and move away from the light table for this month's post. Instead, I created a giant homemade glow-in-the-dark floor piano using glow sticks. Lots and lots of glow sticks!
My inspiration for this activity was the 80s movie Big. You know, the one where Tom Hanks plays a giant floor piano. Yeah, totally awesome inspiration, right? Well, ours doesn't light up or make a sound when you step on a key, but it was still fun and presented lots of learning opportunities for the boys.
Another bonus, at least for me, is that the giant floor piano can then be used in my piano studio as a hands-on feet-on approach to learning the notes of the piano keyboard. I know that my beginner piano students will have a blast using the giant floor piano to practice finding piano keys.
Enough about that though. You want to know how to make it, right? Of course, you do!
How to Make a Giant Floor Piano
I used an off-white shower curtain, but a white sheet would work well too. I then folded the sheet in half lengthwise and sewed the two short ends. I left the long edge open so that I could create pockets for the glow sticks.
Once I sewed the two short edges, I turned the shower curtain inside out so that the seams would be hidden inside the piano.
Next, I measured out eight piano keys. The width of each key was 8.5'. Then I sewed along the width of each key using black thread. Just as a reminder, the bottom of the piano was left open so you should be left with little pockets for inserting the glow sticks.
To make the black keys, I used three sheets of black felt. I cut each sheet in half lengthwise. I then hot glued the felt into the appropriate places. You could also sew the black keys, if you prefer, but at this point, I was tired of dealing with the slippery shower curtain fabric.
That's it!
How to Make a Glow-in-the-Dark Floor Piano
I used about eight packages of glow sticks for our floor piano, but I think it would look even more amazing with even more glow sticks. I bought all the glow sticks at the dollar store for $1 each so the total cost was only $8. I bought a mix of the standard bracelet style glow sticks and the short thick glow sticks. The best part about glow sticks is that you can pop them in the freezer when you're done to use for another occasion, prolonging their life and use. Sweet!
I decided to turn our glowing floor piano into a rainbow, as you can see. I also taped the piano to the floor so that it wouldn't roll or bunch up during play.
The boys started off just running back and forth across the keys of the floor piano. K liked to use it more like a slip and slide by running and sliding on his butt. Summer project perhaps?
After their initial exploration, we did a few different activities. J and I worked together to name the keys of the piano while walking across it.
We then explored the piano by color. I would shout out a color and the boys would jump on the note. I also varied it up a bit by naming a sequence of colors for them to find.
My husband then had the brilliant idea to turn it into a game of twister. J has been working on identifying right versus left hands and feet, so this activity was a perfect way to do that. It also encouraged J to stretch his body into all sorts of weird positions.
![The The](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/q5w9OJaq9ec/maxresdefault.jpg)
Look, my husband even made it into a few pictures on the blog. That's a first and what a 'glowing' picture! Haha...Here are a couple of photos of all three boys playing some twister on the glowing floor piano.
How To Play Piano Online
And here's my favorite picture of all! I just love the silhouette of J's body against the glowing piano keys.
Other Ideas You'll Love
16 Piano Inspired Music Activities for KidsGlow Stick Drumming
Visual Sensory Toys & Tools for Kids
How To Play All Of The Lights Piano Songs
The other ladies in Light & Reflections series have come up with some pretty amazing music and movement ideas so be sure to check them all out.
How To Play Piano For Free
Glow-in-the-Dark Egg Shakers from Happily Ever Mom
How To Play All Of The Lights Piano Guitar
Musical Water Experiments on the Light Table from Still Playing School
Mimicking Movement with Mirrors from Where Imagination GrowsHow To Play All Of The Lights Piano Chords
How To Play Piano Pdf
You can find all the posts from this series on the Light & Reflections Series board on Pinterest. Then tune in next month when we focus on springtime. Ah, I cannot wait for it to be spring!