Posts Tagged ‘white keys’

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.

Learning Music for Absolute Beginners

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

Learning music for beginners

Learning music as an absolute beginner can be frustrating if you do not know where to start. There is no right or wrong way for a beginner to learn, but there are simple steps that can help anyone make learning music fun.

First of all, you’ll need an instrument of course. If you have access to a piano, you have got a head start. The piano is the easiest instrument to begin learning, yet is also the most versatile. Its notes are set neatly in a row with nothing hidden. Because of this simple layout, the piano can be used to learn the basic principles of music which will then carry over into other instruments.

The piano has two sets of keys: the white keys and the black keys. Each key plays a different note. Starting on the note C and playing the next six white keys to the right will form the C major scale. Of course, finding the note for a beginner is half the challenge.

To find a C, look at the black keys. There are two groupings of black keys: two keys and three keys. Look for a group of two black keys. The white key just to the left of this group is C.

Now that you’ve found C, you will be able to play the C major scale. Just start at any C and move to the right, playing each white key in sequence until you have reached the next C on the keyboard. You have now played the C major scale, one of the building blocks of learning music. The notes are as follows: C D E F G A B.

Many popular songs can be played with this scale. You can play the melody of Old MacDonald using these keys. You can also play Let It Be by the Beatles, using only the C major scale. Both the melody and chords of the song can be played using the white keys.

Of course, no one wants to stop learning there. Learning some basic chords will be the next step. A basic C chord is played by placing the thumb on a C, the middle finger on an E, and the pinky on the G. Play these keys at the same time and you have played the C chord.

There are many more scales and chords to learn, but any beginner can start with C and create some nice results. Learning music needs to be fun, as theory and technical exercises can make it seem more like work. The great thing about learning how to play chords and melodies in C is that pretty much any white key melody will work over any white key chord progression. For someone learning to play the piano, this is encouraging.

Learning music can be easy and enjoyable when a beginner starts off on the right key. By following the easy steps outlined here, anyone can make beautiful music from day one. The greatest musical minds in the world all started off at the beginning and so can you.