In this lesson, you’ll learn keys on piano for all of me which notes each key on the piano keyboard represents. You’ll learn what the white and black keys are called. This is perfect for someone who is just starting out on the piano. You might have just bought a new keyboard and be trying to figure out the notes, want to learn some songs online, or have decided to start learning how to play the piano. This piano lesson for complete beginners is just what you need. It’s based on a video I posted on the Piano Keyboard Guide YouTube channel (see below).
I’ll start by showing you some basic things. So you’re looking at the piano keyboard and trying to figure it out. What’s the deal with the keys? There are both black and white keys. You can hear sounds when you play them. But what’s going on? I’ll tell you what each key sounds like.
The White Keys – Piano Notes & Keys
I want you to start by looking at the black keys. If you look closely at the piano keyboard, you’ll notice that there are two groups of two black keys, then three groups of three black keys, then two groups of two black keys, then three groups of two black keys, and so on. Are you able to see this? We’ll use this pattern to figure out what each key on the piano is and what it’s called.
You will see that there is a white key before a set of two black keys. The note C is played by this white key. Use your keyboard to try it out. Play C. Your keyboard has a lot of C notes. Play the one that is close to the middle of your keyboard. So, we could name the other white keys if we knew where C was. What letter comes after C? Obviously, it is D. So the D is played by the white key after C. What comes after the letter D? D comes before E. So, the white key after D plays the letter E. The note that comes after E is F, then G, A, B, and C. Play these notes and say out loud what they are.
There are seven notes in the musical alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. After G, you start over at A and play the same notes again. In music, there is no H, only A B C D E F G.
Start by pressing C again on your keyboard. Try a lower one on your keyboard. (When you play “lower,” you play a key to the left of what you played before.) Remember that C is the key that comes before a set of two black keys. Play the notes C D E F G A B C. When you play the notes C, D, E, F, G, and B, you end up at another C note, which is right before two black keys.
So, you should now know what the white keys are called. I’m sure you already know where C, D, E, F, G, A, and B are. Play them and call out their names. Again, if you have two black keys next to each other, the white key right before them plays the note C.
What about the set of three black keys we talked about earlier? You may have already seen that the note before it is F. The letter F comes before three black keys. So if you know where F is, you also know where G is. G comes right after F. The notes after G are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, etc. Choose another set of three black keys and play the F key right before it. Play that note and say its name out loud. Then play G, A, B, C, D, and E and say their names. You can name all the white keys on the piano keyboard as long as you know that C comes before a set of two black keys and F comes before a set of three black keys. I made some piano lessons for you to help you get better. Find out all about them right here.
