Notes on Piano – Learn the basics

Notes on Piano - So you are new to the Piano? Want to know how the notes are named on a Piano/Keyboard? On this page, I will give you a brief overview of what the various notes are on a Piano.

Piano notes vs. Keyboard notes - Please keep in mind that the notes on Piano and electronic Keyboards are arranged in the same way. Though they may be made from different materials and the touch may feel different, the notes are identified by the same name on both a Piano and a Keyboard.

12 Different Notes - If you carefully observe the layout of the keys, you will notice that there are basically 12 different keys or notes - 7 white and 5 black keys. The same group of keys then keeps on repeating itself.

The Piano notes/Keyboard notes are named as follows.
The 7 white keys are identified as C, D, E, F, G, A, B
The 5 black keys derive their names from the white keys, depending on whether the black key is to the left or right of the white key.

Examples
A black key to the right of C would be called as C# or C Sharp. "Sharp" means it is to the right of the white key.
A black key to the left of E would be called as Eb or E Flat. "Flat" means it is to the left of the white key.

Octave - Coming to the number of keys, all the Pianos have 88 keys. Keyboards on the other hand can contain lesser number of keys; you get either 61 keys or 76 keys. One group of 7 white notes and 5 black keys is known as one octave and the same set of notes gets repeated in the other octaves. So a 61 keys keyboard can also be referred to as a 5-Octave keyboard (the one extra key is ignored). A Piano on the other hand would have 7 and half octaves.

I have tried to give you a brief overview of the notes on Piano. I hope it encourages you to take the next step towards learning the Piano. I will be updating this page with more examples so please do come back.

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