Let's go over the piano keyboard.
The piano keyboard is made up of 7 white keys and 5 black keys — all together they add up to 12 notes.
Now let's see what this pattern looks like on the keyboard.
See it now?
A little trick I like to use to find this pattern is to look for the 2 black keys and 3 black keys. You’ll notice this note combination right away and see they’re the same across the keyboard.
The best way to see these notes is to chunk them into groups. You’ll be able to easily see the pattern and it will help you seamlessly navigate the keyboard.
See how these 12 notes are repeated below:
See it now?
Now if you play the notes on the keyboard from the far left you will notice these notes sound really low.
As you work your way up to the right, the notes sound higher — this is also known as pitch.
Pitch in music simply means how high or low a note is.
Now even though the pitch (or sound) of the notes you’re playing may sound different as you work your way from left to right — you’re really only playing a 12 note pattern that’s repeated across the keyboard.
It’s that simple.
Like I tell my students, if you can count to 12 — you can play the piano.
This simple lesson will help you learn how to name the notes on the keyboard and the musical alphabet.
Until next time!