The keyboard
Lesson 1 of 14 · Beginner · White and black keys, and how to find C.
Low to high
A piano has 88 keys: 52 white and 36 black. Each key plays one note.
The keys go from low on the left to high on the right. Every key sounds a little higher than the one before it. Tap a few keys below, from left to right, and listen.
Black keys come in groups
Look at the black keys: they come in groups of two and groups of three, over and over, all the way up.
These groups are your map. Without them every white key would look the same. With them, you can find any note at a glance.
Finding C
The white key just left of a group of two black keys is always C.
There are 8 Cs on the piano, all lit below. The one nearest the middle is middle C. You'll start from it a lot.
The pattern repeats
From one C up to the next there are 7 white keys and 5 black keys: 12 keys in all. That stretch is called an octave.
The whole piano is that same pattern again and again, a little higher each time. Learn one octave and you know them all.
Practice
Two quick questions first.
Now find Cs on the keyboard. Look for a group of two black keys.
Next: Note names and octaves · All lessons
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