Piano Guidance
Photo by Ivan Samkov Pexels Logo Photo: Ivan Samkov

What are the 7 notes on a piano?

The most important thing to remember is that a piano has 7 white notes namely C,D,E,F,G,A,B and 5 black notes C#, D#, F#, G#, A# or Db, Eb, Gb, Ab, Bb (depending upon which key your in). Nevertheless there's only 7 white plus 5 black which equals a total of 12 piano notes.

How much does Billy Joel make in royalties?
How much does Billy Joel make in royalties?

Billboard estimates Joel's song catalog averaged $8.915 million in annual music publishing royalties over the three-year period of 2019-2021, which...

Read More »
How much practice a day should a beginner pianist put in?
How much practice a day should a beginner pianist put in?

30 minutes to 4 hours Most piano teachers recommend practicing anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours daily. To facilitate this, consider making a...

Read More »

As a new piano enthusiast sitting in front of the black and white notes for the very first time, it can be quite a daunting experience!You will probably feel lost and slightly confused by the magnitude of the piano’s keyboard.The most important thing to remember is that a piano has 7 white notes namely C,D,E,F,G,A,B and 5 black notes C#, D#, F#, G#, A# or Db, Eb, Gb, Ab, Bb (depending upon which key your in). Nevertheless there’s only 7 white plus 5 black which equals a total of 12 piano notes. The next thing to notice is that the keys repeat again and again and again.

This diagram demonstrates how it works:

Diagram number 1 shows the 12 notes in total

Diagram number 2 demonstrates how this pattern keeps repeating over and over across the entire piano’s keyboard. So in actual fact if you think about the nature of this wonderful instrument you will notice that it is a repeated keyboard designed to fit a human’s reach. (If we had very, very, very, long arms, we could have a 10 meter wide piano repeating the notes again and again – although this would probably not make much sense as we would not be able to hear the extremely low and high frequencies!) I hope you’ve enjoyed this little article about how the piano works. It’s essential to understand the nature of an instrument in order to enjoy it more. Piano students who understand the nature of the instrument and how it works will make much faster progress than those without this basic understanding. A small tip for beginners: Buy a small little keyboard that you can take with you wherever you go. (At work/holiday or a business trip). You can then use that mini keyboard to visualise this exercise in more depth and to practice some of your scale patterns on it throughout different octaves of the keyboard. (An octave is a length of 12. Each new time the 12 notes are repeated, we are operating in a new octave. The sound will go higher in pitch when we ascend on the keyboard and lower in pitch when we descend.)

Can you learn piano just by playing songs?
Can you learn piano just by playing songs?

Yes, you can learn the piano by playing songs, although this approach won't equip you to play scales, arpeggios, or advanced classical repertoire...

Read More »
What is jazz tone?
What is jazz tone?

Unlike classical players who usually strive for a clear, “pure” tone, jazz players strive for a tone that is generally more “vocal” in nature,...

Read More »

What key is jazz played in?

G, E and A which are probably the most common rock keys. Similarly, the reason jazz is mostly written with flats is because jazz often uses horns and it's easier to play a horn in flat keys because they are transposing instruments (pitched in Bb and Eb).

There’s lots of great answers to the question here, but I would like to add that, it’s the same reason that there are a lot of Rock songs in sharp keys! Why? Because it’s about who is composing the songs. Guitar players generally write rock music and they like to use keys where they have more open strings. It’s simply easier to play with open strings so that’s what they gravitate to. G, E and A which are probably the most common rock keys. Similarly, the reason jazz is mostly written with flats is because jazz often uses horns and it’s easier to play a horn in flat keys because they are transposing instruments (pitched in Bb and Eb). So, as an example, if a song is written in Concert F (one of the most popular keys), then Bb instruments (like trumpet and tenor sax) are playing in the key of G, and a song in the key of Bb would put a horn in the key of C, etc. Those are easy keys to play for horn players so those are the keys that jazz writers tend to gravitate to especially if they’re writing for horns as well as the tradition of flat keys. One of the favorite keys of guitarists is E and that puts a Bb horn player in the key of F#. Not at all a friendly key for most horn players. But, even if you’re a horn player and you are forced to play with guitar based bands you will become more adept at playing in sharp keys. There are some horn players which actually PREFER sharp keys especially for blues based songs because the blues scale adds flats to the key.

Is C considered a failing grade?
Is C considered a failing grade?

A grade of C or better is required to earn a Passed; a C- or below will earn a Not Passed grade. A grade of C- may satisfy many requirements (e.g.,...

Read More »
Can you fix a dead key on piano?
Can you fix a dead key on piano?

The good news is that you can fix most broken keys with a little bit of work. While there are several reasons that your key on your digital piano...

Read More »
Should pickups be flat?
Should pickups be flat?

In most cases the flat-pole pickup will give you a better string balance. The high E won't get buried in the mix like a staggered-pole pickup can....

Read More »
Join almost HALF A MILLION Happy Students Worldwide
Join almost HALF A MILLION Happy Students Worldwide

Pianoforall is one of the most popular online piano courses online and has helped over 450,000 students around the world achieve their dream of playing beautiful piano for over a decade.

Learn More »
What chords go well together?
What chords go well together?

Groups of Guitar Chords that Sound Good Together Progression 1: G, C, D, Em (common in multiple genres of music) Progression 2: F, C, G, Am...

Read More »