Posts Tagged ‘piano keyboard’

The Layout Of The Piano Keyboard For Beginners

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Piano keys: how the piano keyboard is arranged (88 keys, white, black, etc)

There are 36 black and 52 white keys (88 total) on a piano. These keys trigger hammers inside the piano that strike the piano’s strings to produce sound. The white keys are a piano’s “natural” notes while the black keys are used for notes that are either sharp or flat. The first key (on the far left of the keyboard) is the note A and the last key (on the right), the note C.

The keys are arranged in half steps (semitones) and in the order of a chromatic scale (half step, half step, half step, etc.). The white and black keys alternate except for the fact that there are no black keys (sharp or flat notes) between the notes B and C, or E and F (the notes B#, Cb, E# and Fb do not exist).

Some think the piano is based on a C scale, but that is really not the case. You can play any scale on the piano (a D minor scale, an Ab 7 scale, etc.) simply by choosing a certain starting point (piano key) and playing the notes in the proper order. Playing left to right creates ascending (higher and higher) notes, playing right to left creates descending notes.

The piano keyboard can also be looked at from the standpoint of octaves. An octave is an interval casually thought of as “one scale” above or below the reference note (or the beginning and ending note of a scale). The note names of notes an octave apart are the same (i.e., you can play the note E, then play another E an octave higher). Notes an octave apart (and all notes for that matter) are measured as a certain Pitch (a particular note or tone). Pitch is measured in cycles per second (written as hz). Whereas the note A is measured at 440hz, the A above (an octave higher) is measured at 880hz. The note A above that (another octave higher) is measured at 1760hz. Octaves provide a basic framework for scales and chords.

One of the challenges of a pianist is the stretching of the hands and fingers to play certain combinations of notes that produce chords or arpeggios. It takes time to develop the flexibility and strength needed and certain exercises are used for that purpose. At times, all ten fingers are needed to play the music as written (or desired). As a general rule in music written for the piano, the left hand plays the notes of the bass clef, while the right hand plays the notes of the treble clef. Typically, the melody of the piece is played by the right hand (with the left hand often providing bass notes, runs, and arpeggios).  

Portable, electronic keyboards rarely contain all 88 keys. Depending on size and purpose, a portable keyboard can contain as few as 24 keys. The musician is limited in the number of notes that can be played and often has to “rearrange” the melody and chords by playing one octave above or below the intended passages.

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Piano Notes For Those Who Don’t Know Middle C From Tweedle Dee (video)

Saturday, October 11th, 2008

I am often guilty of assuming too much. Since I’ve been around music and the piano since I was old enough to walk, I tend to assume that everyone else knows the basics of piano notes and the piano keyboard. But it’s not necessarily so.

Some time ago I was talking about the piano, and a friend said to me “I don’t know Middle C from Tweedle Dee.” It slowly dawned on me that there are thousands of people who didn’t grow up with a piano in their homes, so how in the world could they know where various piano notes are located?

So here is Piano Notes 101: The piano keyboard is divided into white keys and black keys. The white keys start at the far left of the keyboard with a note called “A.” That is followed by B, C, D, E, F, and G, and then repeats over and over nearly 7 times until you reach the very top key on the keyboard which is a “C.”

The black keys are sharps and flats. Each black key has two names depending upon how it is used. If you move down from a white key, the black key next to it is called a flat. If you move up from a white key, the black key next to it is a sharp. (For you who know the piano, you will see that I am oversimplyfiing here so beginners won’t become confused.) There are 7 different white keys and 5 different black keys, making a total of 12 different keys which are then repeated in each octave up the keyboard until you reach the top “C.” There are 88 total keys on a standard piano keyboard. (Some electronic keyboards have fewer keys.)

Please watch this short 2-minute video IF you, like my friend, don’t know Middle C from Tweedle Dee.


Piano note names on the piano keyboard from chordman on Vimeo.

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Piano Keyboards to Keep You Playing: What To Look For

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Piano keyboards

When looking for a new keyboard, consider the manufacturers of piano keyboards. Look at your budget and then go from there. Does that budget allow you to check out some of the premiere makers out there? Does your budget require you to go with a lesser-known manufacturer?

Some of the names in piano keyboards are Korg, Kurzweil, Roland, Yamaha, Kawai and Moog. There’s a host of others as well, some with a wide model line available. Check each manufacturer’s products from low-end to high-end and compare across companies for features offered. Sometimes a lower-priced model may suit you just as well as a higher-priced one that has many extra gadgets you may never use. The main thing is to make sure any model you choose has a clear, full sound resembling as close as possible a traditional piano’s sound. You don’t want a tinny sound that is more annoying than pleasing.

If you base your decision solely on price, investigate consumer reports and product reviews that may alert you to product flaws. You may find some high-priced models receive more bad press than lower-priced makes. Regardless, don’t let a piano keyboard purchase blow your budget. You can always upgrade down the road.

One important consideration when purchasing a piano keyboard is the warranty. If you’re buying a new brand, make sure the warranty is suitable with no unacceptable “except for” clauses. If you’re buying used, try to buy from a dealer who offers even a six-month warranty on a used product. They’re out there; you just have to look for them.

Consider the type of keys your fingers will run across when you look at piano keyboards. Do you want traditional weighted keys that have the feel of an acoustic piano? Do you want “touch sensitive” keys that spring into action with little downward pressure? Both are available, and checking them out will ensure that it suits your touch. I would certainly recommend that you get both of these features so your keyboard “feels” like a normal acoustic piano.

Consider whether you want a full 88-key piano or one with fewer keys. It depends on what you plan to play, how much you want to spend, and the space you have in a room. You don’t want to feel cramped with a keyboard whose length barely fits into a small room. On the other hand, if you plan on getting better in a hurry, then get an 88 key keyboard from the outset so you won’t have to worry about outgrowing it.

Another thing to consider in a piano keyboard is the number of controls a model has for sound modification. Many keyboards come equipped with settings to make the piano sound like different musical instruments. Some also have voice settings, so certain keys sound like a choir singing. Again, if you want just your typical piano sound, you may not require all these sound controls. To keep your costs down, it’s best to buy a model with only the features you will use.

An important consideration, especially if you live in an apartment or condominium, is sound control. You want a keyboard that allows you to set the volume as low as possible while maintaining quality and clarity of sound. You also want a keyboard that allows for headphone plug-in, so you can play as loud as you need without disturbing anyone.

With today’s “going green” concerns, you may want to investigate the energy use of keyboards. Keyboards that are green friendly are sure to be the latest models and can save you dollars on energy bills. With that extra money, you can upgrade to a higher-priced keyboard later.

Additional things to consider are any special benefits or bonuses for buying. Some music studios sell keyboards and may offer lesson or music book discounts for purchasing from them. Some music stores offer music lessons on premises and may offer free introductory piano lessons with a keyboard purchase.

The final thing to consider when purchasing a keyboard is its capacity for attachments. Aside from the headphones, you may want outlets for an amplifier or a Musical Instrument Digital Interface outlet. This allows you to hook a keyboard into a computer. Of course, the computer also has to have a MIDI input. If your computer doesn’t, you have to buy a USB MIDI adapter. With the proper software program in place, you can play notes on a keyboard and have them show up as written music on your monitor. The computer plays the notes back, and the program stores the played notes on the computer. If this looks like an attractive option, seek a keyboard with this outlet.

Take the time to investigate all the piano keyboard options available to you on the market. There are makes and models to suit your exact requirements. All you need is an investigative attitude to search out the one that’s right for you.

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How to Read Piano Notes

Saturday, August 16th, 2008

How to Read Piano Notes

How To Read Piano NotesHow to Read Piano Notes

Reading piano notes may seem daunting at first, but it really isn’t if you ground yourself in the basics. The first step is learning the names of the notes. The great thing is that you only have seven to memorize.
All music is the result of combinations of these seven. These notes, named after letters in the alphabet, are A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Specific keys on the piano, associated with these notes, comprise your piano playing toolkit.

These seven notes sit on lines and spaces, called a music staff. Piano music consists of two staffs or staves: the Treble Clef and the Bass Clef. The notes from the upper portion of the piano keyboard sit on the Treble Clef. The notes from the lower portion of the keyboard sit on the Bass Clef.

Usually, the right hand plays the notes in the Treble Clef, while the left hand plays notes in the Bass Clef. The key to reading piano notes is in knowing what key relates to what note on the sheet music.

The note A on a piano is a white key. The A on the music staff corresponds to where the A note is on the keyboard. The notes on a keyboard repeat themselves:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A

Each of these notes is a key on the piano. It’s that simple, all along the keyboard.

The first A sits on one point of the music staff. As you play along the keyboard, the second A you play sits further up the music staff. As your fingers run up to the upper portions of the keyboard, the higher the notes sit on the Treble Clef. The further down you play on the piano keyboard, the further down the notes sit on the music staff, running into the Bass Clef.

You can group notes together on a music staff vertically. These vertical grouping are chords. A chord is a group of three or more notes played simultaneously. If you play the C, E and G keys at the same time on the keyboard, you play a chord known as a triad. On a piece of sheet music, you will see these three notes as such:

G
E
C …piled on top of one another so-to-speak.

If the composer wants these notes played separately, he would write them out horizontally on the music staff as such:

C E G …moves along the music staff.

Of course, these letters do not appear on the music staff; instead oval notes replace the letters.
When you first begin to read piano sheet music, locate the reference point note of each staff. This allows you to determine the rest of the notes on the staff.

The Treble Clef has the G note as its reference point. This note is on the second line from the bottom of the five line Treble Clef staff. The Bass Clef has the F notes as its reference point. This note is on the second line from the top of the five line Bass Clef staff. Every other note on either staff is easily located from these points.

Reading piano notes will be easier when you study the fundamentals. Learn the Treble and Bass Clefs and where the seven notes sit on them, and your reading skills will improve.

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How to Read Music - Easier Than You Ever Thought!

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

How to read musicHow to Read Music - Easier Than You Ever Thought!

One of the simple joys in life is the ability to read music. Learning this skill will enable you to express yourself creatively at the piano, playing your favorite songs.

It’s not difficult to learn to read music if you understand its components.

Written music has an architecture all its own. Musical notes sit on a staff. This staff consists of five lines and four spaces. Piano music utilizes two staves: the Treble

Clef and the Bass Clef. The Treble Clef consists of notes in the upper part of the piano keyboard, and the Bass Clef consists of notes in the lower part of the piano

keyboard. Music for instruments such as the trumpet uses only the Treble Clef, with additional notes written just above or just below the staff. There are also Tenor and

Alto Clefs, which accommodate written notes for a host of other instruments.

There are only seven notes in all of music. Of course, myriad combinations of these notes give us the vast array of music we have available to us today. These combinations

of notes will continue to provide us with new music in the future as well. These notes are seven letters from the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F and G; what musicians and

composers do with seven notes is what makes music so beautiful.
On a sheet of music, the Treble Clef has a figure at the beginning of the staff. This figure indicates where line “G” is, on the second line from the bottom of the staff.

Once you know where line “G” is, you can figure out the names of the other spaces and lines. The Bass Clef has a figure at the beginning of its staff. This figure indicates

where line “F” is, on the second line from the top of this staff. Again, you can figure out the other notes, where they sit on the Bass Clef, because you have a starting

point with line “F”.

You can play musical notes individually as single successive notes, or you can play them in unison as a chord. Notes do not all look alike on a musical staff. Some have

stems attached to them. Some have what look like little flags on them. Some notes are solid black, while others are clear ovals. These different characteristic of a musical

note represent its value. The value helps a music reader determine the duration of a note, how much time it should take up in a piece of music.

Written music also includes the use of “rests.” These rests are of a different shape than music notes, and they indicate intervals of silence in music. A musician needs to

know where pauses in their playing need to occur and for how long these pauses must be.

These are the fundamentals to know when you want to begin a study of music reading. From there you will come to understand time signatures, rhythm, tempo, and phrasing and

articulation markings. However, learning those seven notes and the music staff is the first step. After that, it’s full speed ahead to greater musical enjoyment.
http://www.readmusicfast.com/

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