Piano Keys- A Simple Guide To Learning Notes On The Piano

Knowing your way around the piano is an essential tool for any singer. It opens so many important doors to becoming an independent and competent musician. Get to know that piano- It’s your new best friend. You’ll learn music together, write songs together…. Nearly all of my singing practice is done sitting (up straight of course) at my piano.

First things first. Here are the notes on the piano.

• The keyboard is a repeating pattern of 12 notes/pitches (7 white keys and 5 black keys)
• The white piano keys are represented by the first 7 letters of the alphabet. The lowest key on the piano is A.
• A-B-C-D-E-F-G  This pattern repeats over and over across the keyboard.
• The black piano keys are sharps and flats 
• A sharp raises the note by a half step. A flat lowers the note by a half step. Wait! What’s a half step? A half step is the smallest distance (interval) on the piano keyboard. Examples: The note C is a half step above the note B. The note F is a half step below the note F#.
• Each black key represents both a sharp and a flat. As you can see in the image, Bb is also called A#, Db is also called C#, etc…(We’ll get to why each black key has two names in another lesson)

How To Practice- Piano Keys

Put the names of the keys to memory by quizzing yourself at the piano (or virtual keyboard). Start at the low end of the piano and play all the Cs on the keyboard. Then find all the Gs on the keyboard. Do this for every note name.

Next, choose notes at random and then identify them. The goal is to be able to identify each note immediately upon sight. I see each note as having a familiar “face”.

Invest a little time into daily practice and you’ll have these piano keys memorized in no time!