How to Find Keyboard Piano Key Notes

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Finding the notes on a piano keyboard can be a head-spinning task. What does each key mean? Well, each of the white keys correspond to a notes such as A and each of the black keys correspond to an accidental such as a sharp or flat note. The distance between each key is a half note. The distance between two keys with one in between is a whole note.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Piano or keyboard

Step1

Find two black keys with only one white in between. Place your thumb on the white key to the left of the first black key. The white key is a C.

Step2

Place your index finger on the next white key, that's D. Place the rest of your fingers on the following white keys. They're E, F and G. Since there is no note "H" the next white key will be A, followed by B, followed by C again. This pattern repeats as you keep going down the keyboard.

Step3

Move your index finger to the black key between it and your thumb, that's C sharp or D flat. The next black key is D sharp or E flat. See the pattern? Every black key is the sharp of the white key to its left and the flat of the white key to its right. Again, the pattern repeats over and over again for the entire keyboard.

Step4

Now find middle C, the note that acts like a base when you start to read music. Take a step back from the keyboard and look for the C key near the middle of the piano roughly above the pedals That note is middle C. Keep it in mind as you learn the rest of the notes.

Step5

Study the notes. With your hands in the same position as in Step 2, play each white key one after the other. Really listen to the differences between them. Now play each of the black keys. Say the note names out loud as you play them. Practice this every day until you can point to a key and say what note it is.

Tips & Warnings

Remember the pattern repeats! Once you learn the notes on one section, just repeat them at another section.
Go slowly and have patience with yourself. There are a lot of notes to get used to.
Try putting small pieces of masking tape on each of the keys and writing the names of the notes on the tape. Once you feel comfortable with some of the names, remove the tape from half of the keyboard and try to say the names of each of the notes.