It is actually a bit easy to learn piano notes, if you know where to start that is. Well, you can begin here.

First, you need a piano. Otherwise, it will be twice as hard to learn each note. If by chance you don’t have a piano with you, a virtual piano which is available in some websites can be of help. For practice though, a virtual piano would not suffice.

{The Keys On The Piano}

As you can see, the layout of the piano is composed of two different types of key – the black key and the white key. Remember also that in a standard acoustic piano, there are 88 keys that produce individual sounds. Despite the number of keys, however, there are only 7 different notes and their variations. These 7 notes correspond to the seven letters of the music alphabet – A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Note the difference in the way the music alphabet and the standard alphabet begin – the music alphabet starts with the letter C. This is because the key of C is considered the least complex of all keys.

{The Notes of the White Keys of the Piano}

The white keys are called the natural keys for these produce the natural notes as opposed to the slightly modified notes of the black keys. Based on the music alphabet, there are only 7 naturals– C, D, E, F, G, A and B. After the B, the pattern or scale repeats itself.

{The Notes Of The Black Keys}

The black keys are called the accidentals which are actually modified versions of the natural notes beside them. On the piano, there are five different accidental keys which have 2 different names.

Accidental notes are categorized either as sharps (#) or flats (b). Each of the five accidentals could be a sharp note or a flat note of the keys beside them.

The sharp accidentals create slightly higher pitches of the naturals beside them. This slight version is measured by the term halftone, which is defined as the least possible interval between two notes. Meanwhile, flats or flat accidentals create a slower lower sound than the natural they modify. Again, like with the sharp notes, the difference is just a halftone. To understand this better, look at the examples below.

Identify the Middle C then the D key beside it; that serves as the basis of our example. Now, look at the black keys on both sides of the D key. The black key to the left of the D key is called its flat and the black key to its right is called its sharp.

Remember that this rule applies to all other keys on the keyboard. Note, too, that MOST, not all, natural keys have flat and sharp accidentals. The rest of the keys which don’t have black keys on either side have natural keys serving as their accidentals.

The most effective way to learn piano notes is by putting into practice what you have learned. Start with identifying all the white keys and black keys according to their names. You need not memorize each of the names of the black keys however. So long as you can identify the natural note beside them, you will be able to know whether the key is a sharp or a flat accidental.

How to: Learn Order of the Piano Keys and Music Notes in Conjunction with Soft Mozart

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