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Piano Notes and Keys – How To Label Keys – Piano Keyboard Layout

December 17, 2018December 19, 2018 Mantius Cazaubon

piano keys and notes, piano keyboard diagram

In this lesson, you will learn the notes that correspond to the keys of the piano keyboard. You will learn how to label the white and black keys. This is perfect for someone who’s just starting out on the piano. Maybe you just bought a new keyboard, you’re trying to figure out the notes, you want to learn some songs online or you’ve decided to begin learning to play the piano. This absolute beginner’s piano lesson is perfect for you. It’s based on a video (embedded below) that I posted on the Piano Keyboard Guide YouTube channel.

I will show you some basics right from the very start. So you’re looking at the piano keyboard and want to figure it out. What are the keys all about? You see black keys and white keys. When you play them you hear sounds. But what’s it all about? I will tell you what notes each key plays.

Piano Keys and Notes – PKG 001 (Watch this lesson.)

Piano Notes & Keys – The White Keys

First of all, I want you to take a look at the black keys. If you look closely at the piano keyboard you will see that you have a group of two black keys followed by a group of three black keys, then a group of two black keys followed by a group of three black keys, and this pattern of two – three – two – three – two – three continues. Do you notice this? We will use this pattern to identify and label the keys of the piano.

Before a set of two black keys, you will notice that there’s a white key. This white key plays the note, C. Try it out on your keyboard. Play C. There are many C notes on your keyboard. Play the one near the center of your keyboard. So if we know where the note, C is, we could name the other white keys. What letter comes after C? Clearly, it’s D. So the white key after C plays D. What letter comes after D? E comes after D. Therefore, the white key after D plays E. The note after E is F, followed by G, A, B and C. Play these notes and say their names out loud.

The musical alphabet consists of 7 notes, A B C D E F G. After G, you go back to A and repeat the notes. There is no H in music, just A B C D E F G.

Start on another C on your keyboard. Try one that’s lower on your keyboard. (Lower means that you’re playing a key that is to the left of what you played earlier.) Remember that C is the key before a set of two black keys. Play C D E F G A B C. After you play C D E F G A B, you arrive once again at another C note which is before a set of two black keys.

So by now, hopefully, you know how to label the white keys. I trust that you know where C, D, E, F, G, A and B are located. Play them and say their names out loud. Once again, anytime you have a set of two black keys, the white key immediately before it plays the note, C.

How about the set of three black keys we talked about earlier? The note before it, as you may have noticed earlier is F. F comes before a set of three black keys. So if you know where F is, you know where G is. G is immediately after F. After G, the notes are A, B, C, D, E, F, G and so on. Choose another set of three black keys and play the F key just before it. Say its name out loud, then play the other notes, G, A, B, C, D, and E and say their names. As long as you understand that C comes before a set of two black keys and F comes before a set of three black keys, you can label all the white keys of the piano keyboard. I created a few piano courses for you to help you improve. Learn all about them here.

Piano Notes and Keys – The Black Keys

Let’s now label the black keys. We will first of all take a look at sharps and flats. If you’re moving to the left of a key (playing a key that’s lower), the term “flat” is used. For instance, the key to the immediate left of D plays the note, D flat. D flat can be written like this: Db. A lower case “b” stands for flat. Play D on your keyboard, then play the black key just before D. You just played the note, Db. D flat is a semitone or a half step lower than D. If you move from D to C, you would be moving a whole step lower, but with a half step, no key is skipped. Play the note, E on your piano keyboard. Now play the key that is to the immediate left of it. What note does this key play? The answer is E flat (Eb). Eb flat is a half step lower than E. Play G, then go a half step (or semitone) lower to arrive at G flat (Gb). Play A, then go a half step lower to arrive at A flat (Ab). Ab is to the immediate left of (or a half step lower than) A. Play B, then go a half step lower to arrive at B flat (Bb). Bb is to the immediate left of (or a half step lower than) B.

So the black keys play the notes, Db Eb Gb Ab Bb. For the group of two black keys, it’s Db followed by Eb. For the group of three black keys, it’s Gb followed by Ab followed by Bb. Play the black keys and say the note names out loud. Play each white key then play the black key to the immediate left of it and say their names. Practice, practice, practice until you know it by heart.

Starting on C, and moving higher chromatically, the notes are C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb, B, C. As can be seen, some of these notes are natural notes and some are flat notes.

The white keys play natural notes. C D E F G A B are natural notes. They have no sharps or flats. (We will take a look at sharps shortly.)

Starting on C, and moving higher chromatically, using natural notes and sharps, the notes are C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C. The sharp notes are C# D# F# G# A#. For the set of two black keys, the notes are C# and D#. For the set of three black keys the notes are F#, G# and A#. Play each white key then play the black key to the immediate right of it and say their names. Practice, practice, practice until you master it.

In music, as we mentioned earlier, in addition to flats, we also have sharps. The sharp symbol looks almost like a hashtag. You can use this symbol when writing or typing: #. The sharp sign tells you to play a key that is a half step higher on your keyboard. Play the note, C then play the black key that is to the immediate right of it. That black key plays the note, C sharp (C#). Play the note, D then play the black key that is to the immediate right of it. That black key plays the note, D sharp (D#). Play the note, F then play the black key that is to the immediate right of it. That black key plays the note, F sharp (F#). Likewise, the black key immediately after G plays the note, G#. The black key immediately after A plays the note, A#.

So you can clearly see, that the black keys each have two note names. C is followed by C# and Db. The same black key plays C# and Db. D is followed by D# and Eb. The same black key plays D# and Eb. F is followed by F# and Gb. The same black key plays F# and Gb. G is followed by G# and Ab. The same black key plays G# and Ab. A is followed by A# and Bb. The same black key plays A# and Bb.

By now, you should know how to label all the keys of the piano. Watch the embedded youtube video to see me illustrate and please subscribe, share the video, like and comment.

Remember that moving from one key to the next (without skipping any keys) is called a half step or semitone. To take your playing to the next level, learn about the Piano For All course here.

If you were to stop reading right now and were new to labeling the keys of the piano, you’d probably think that the white keys have no sharps or flats while the black keys are either sharp or flat. However, this is not really the case. There is more to naming piano notes and keys. As you progress as a piano student, you will understand more clearly that white keys can play sharps or flats as well. This often confuses beginners and those who are new to music theory. They wrongly think or assume that there is no E#, Fb, Cb and B#, for instance.

This often comes up on my Piano Keyboard Guide youtube channel in comments, particularly for a video I created on how to play the song, Faded by Alan Walker, where I labeled a note, E# in the melody. This really confused some beginners, because I played the same key that plays F and called it E#. To cut a long story short, in music, E# exists and so does, B#, Cb, Fb and so on.

Any note can be sharp or flat. Think of sharp as telling you to play a note that is a half step higher than a note. So if you’re on E and I ask you to play E#, you simply have to play the key that is a half step higher. You’d be using the same key that is used to play F and that’s okay. The note that plays E, can play Fb in some cases because it is a half step lower than F. The note that plays B, can play Cb in some cases because it is a half step lower than C. It all depends on what key you’re playing in and you will learn more about this later as you progress as a piano student.

On a music sheet, a flat may be placed before a note, indicating that you should play it a half step lower. So let’s say the flat symbol is placed before the note C on the staff. It means that instead of C, you should play Cb which is a half step lower than C.

A sharp symbol may be placed before a note. Let’s say the sharp symbol is placed before the note B on the staff. It means that instead of B, you should play B# which is a half step higher than B. The piano keyboard diagram on this page should make all of this clearer. You will realize that keys, whether white or black, can play more than one note. If you have any question about this, you can ask it below.

One more thing I want you to understand is that there is a difference between piano keys and notes. Piano keys are not notes. Piano keys are used to play notes. So there is really no key called C, D, E, F, G, A, B and so on. The keys are used to play these notes.

I hope you understand how to label the keys of the piano keyboard or what notes each key plays. Keep practicing by playing a note and saying its name out loud. Thank you very much and all the best. Learn more about piano keys and notes.

Music Theory Lesson – Major Keys, Key Signatures & Scales in Circle of Fifths Order

February 8, 2018February 8, 2018 Mantius Cazaubon

In this basic music theory lesson, we will take a look at major keys, key signatures and major scales in circle of fifths (and circle of fourths) order. You will find out the number of sharps or flats each major key has, as well as the notes of each key (or the notes of each major scale). We will start with C major which has no sharps or flats. Then we will take a look at the keys containing sharps, namely, G, D, A, E, B, F# and C# major. Afterwards, we will take a look at the keys containing flats, namely, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb and Cb major.

Major keys and key signatures in circle of fifths order.

Also, watch the following video in which you will see diagrams of each major key, key signature and major scale presented in circle of fifths (and circle of fourths) order. The notes of each major scale can be seen on the treble staff as well as the piano keyboard.

Basic Music Theory Lesson – Major Keys, Key Signatures & Scales in Circle of Fifths Order

Keys Containing Sharps – Let’s start with the keys containing sharps.

C major – 0 sharps

There are no sharps or flats in the key of C major. The notes of this key are C D E F G A B.

G major – 1 sharp: F#

There is one sharp in the key of G major. That sharp is F#. The notes of this key are G A B C D E F#.

D major – 2 sharps: F# C#

There are two sharps in the key of D major. These sharps are F# and C#. The notes of this key are D E F# G A B C#.

A major – 3 sharps: F# C# G#

There are three sharps in the key of A major. These sharps are F#, C# and G#. The notes of this key are A B C# D E F# G#.

E major – 4 sharps: F# C# G# D#

There are four sharps in the key of E major. These sharps are F#, C#, G# and D#. The notes of this key are E F# G# A B C# D#.

B major – 5 sharps: F# C# G# D# A#

There are five sharps in the key of B major. These sharps are F#, C#, G#, D# and A#. The notes of this key are B C# D# E F# G# A#.

F# major – 6 sharps: F# C# G# D# A# E#

There are six sharps in the key of F sharp major. These sharps are F#, C#, G#, D#, A# and E#. The notes of this key are F# G# A# B C# D# E#.

C# major – 7 sharps: F# C# G# D# A# E# B#

There are seven sharps in the key of C sharp major. These sharps are F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E# and B#. Every note is sharp. The notes of this key are C# D# E# F# G# A# B#.

Keys Containing Flats – Let’s now take a look at the keys containing flats. (Basic Music Theory Lesson – Major Keys, Key Signatures & Scales in Circle of Fifths Order)

F major – 1 flat: Bb

There is one flat in the key of F major. That flat is Bb. The notes of this key are F G A Bb C D E.

Bb major – 2 flats: Bb Eb

There are two flats in the key of B flat major. These flats are Bb and Eb. The notes of this key are Bb C D Eb F G A.

Eb major – 3 flats: Bb Eb Ab

There are three flats in the key of E flat major. These flats are Bb, Eb and Ab. The notes of this key are Eb F G Ab Bb C D.

Ab major – 4 flats: Bb Eb Ab Db

There are four flats in the key of A flat major. These flats are Bb, Eb, Ab and Db. The notes of this key are are Ab Bb C Db Eb F G.

Db major – 5 flats: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb

There are five flats in the key of D flat major. These flats are Bb, Eb, Ab, Db and Gb. The notes of this key are Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C.

Gb major – 6 flats: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb

There are six flats in the key of G flat major. These flats are Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb and Cb. The notes of this key are Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F.

Cb major – 7 flats: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb

There are seven flats in the key of C flat major. These flats are Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb and Fb. Every note is flat. The notes of this key are Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb.

The Order of Sharps and Flats

The order of sharps: F# C# G# D# A# E# B#

The order of flats: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb

This is the end of our basic music theory lesson, where we took a look at major keys, their key signatures, the number of sharps or flats they have, and major scales in circle of fifths (circle of fourths) order.

Piano Key Notes For Beginners – How To Label The Keys Of The Piano

August 17, 2017August 17, 2017 Mantius Cazaubon

Piano key notes for beginners! In this piano lesson, you will learn how to label the keys of the piano. The following is a transcript of a video lesson I created. It includes minor edits. The video is embedded below.

Hi once again, it’s Mantius Cazaubon and I’m the creator of the website, Piano-Keyboard-Guide.com. Today I’d like to talk to you about labeling the keys of the piano keyboard. Now, I have no keyboard with me right now; I am in my car, but I figured why not present a lesson that is different. We’ve looked at this topic many times, but some beginners still need extra work. So let’s learn how to label the keys of the piano keyboard. Let’s take another look at this topic.

If you don’t have a keyboard with you right now, it’s a good way to do some mental work. It’s always good to think of your keyboard or piano when you’re away from it, whether it’s the notes that correspond to the keys of your keyboard, chords or whatever you’re learning. Mental work is always good. So let’s do some with regards to labeling the keys of the keyboard.

Video: How To Label The Keys Of The Piano (Piano Key Notes For Beginners)

If you take a look at your piano keyboard, you will notice that the keys are black and white. This is quite obvious. But what key is A? What key is B? What keys are C, D, E, F and G? First of all, the letters of the musical alphabet are A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Only seven letters! With these letters we will label the keys of the piano?

So where is A? Where is B? Where is C? Where is D… E, F and G?

Location Of C

Let’s first of all learn where C is. If you look at the keys of the piano, as we said, you will realize that they are black and white. We will start with C, and with C, you will learn how to label every key. Just by using C! If you look at your keyboard, you will notice that there’s a set of two black keys, followed by three black keys, followed by two black keys, followed by three black keys and this two-three keys pattern keeps repeating. The key before a set of two black keys is C.

Now that you know where C is, you could basically label all the white keys. If you know your alphabet as you obviously do, you know that after C comes D. So the white key after C is D. The white key after D is E. Then F. Then G. The white key after G is A, then B, and you go back to C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C and so on. It keeps repeating. So you now know how to label all the white keys. Clearly, the key before C is B, the key before B is A and the key before A is G; there is no H in music. It’s as simple as that.

Location Of F (How To Label The Keys Of The Piano – Piano Key Notes For Beginners)

Another way to label the white keys is to know where F is. Remember we said that there’s a set of two and three black keys. F is before a set of three black keys. If you have your keyboard with you, or if you’re at your piano, take a look at the set of three black keys and notice where F is. You may also take a look at the diagram I’ve included on this page. So what is the letter after F in the alphabet? Obviously, it’s G. What is the letter after G in the alphabet? In the regular alphabet it’s H but there is no H in the musical alphabet. After G you go back to A. So if you go up the keyboard, it’s F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F and so on. If you know where F is, you know how to label all the white keys. All you need to know is where F is. Or all you need to know is where C is, as we saw earlier. Learn the names of the notes that correspond to the white keys mentally, when you’re away from your keyboard. Commit it to memory. You should also practice this by looking at your piano keyboard.

How To Label The Black Keys Of The Piano Keyboard

So you know how to label the white keys. How about the black ones? In music, there are “sharps” and “flats”. “#” stands for sharp and “b” stands for flat. I’m going to put this in very simple terms for the beginner.

On your keyboard, sharp simply means to play the key that is to the immediate right. So if you’re on C, there’s a note called C sharp (C#) which is the black key after C. The key immediately after D is D sharp (D#). The white key after D sharp is E. After E there’s the white key, F. The black key after F is F sharp (F#). The key after F# is G. The key after G is G#, then A. The black key after A is A#. We’re moving right on the keyboard. After A#, you go to B, then C. Then C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B and C. You should know what notes correspond to the keys mentally, without looking at your keyboard. You should have a clear picture in your mind. Work on it.

So we just looked at the sharps. The two keys in the set of two black keys are C# followed by D#. In the set of three black keys, it’s F# followed by G# and A#. So as you move right on your keyboard (as you go up the keyboard), you have sharps. But when we go down (move left), we have flats. The black keys have two note names. If you’re on D, the key before D is D flat (Db). The black key before E is Eb. If you’re on a key and you play the key to the left, you’re going flat. If you’re on G and you then play the key to the immediate left of G, you’re playing G flat. If you’re on A and you’re asked to play the key to the left of A, you’re playing A flat. The key before B is B flat.

This is a simplified way of looking at flats on your piano keyboard. What you’re actually doing is going down a half step (or semitone) on your keyboard and this makes the note flat. For example, if you’re on B, the note before it is Bb because you went down a half step (semitone). On the other hand, if you go up a half step (or semitone) on your keyboard, for example, C to C#, it makes the note sharp. So sharp indicates that you should go up a half step, while flat indicates that you should go down a half step.

So in terms of flats, the five black keys are Db (which is immediately after C or before D), followed by Eb, Gb, Ab and Bb.

The 12 keys of the Piano Keyboard and their Note Names

Remember that the piano keyboard consists of sets of two and three black keys. There are 7 white keys that repeat, giving you a total of 12 keys repeating over and over depending on how many keys your keyboard has in total. Let’s say we start with C (before a set of 2 black keys). This would give you C, followed by C# or Db, D, D# or Eb, E, F, F# or Gb, G, G# or Ab, A, A# or Bb, B and C. The keys of the piano or keyboard!

One more thing. The white keys can also be sharp or flat. Remember that, simply put, on your keyboard, the word, sharp or the symbol, # tells you to play the key to the right of a key, while flat tells you to play the key to the immediate left. Therefore, the key after E can also be called E#. We saw that it was F earlier but it can also be called E#. Why? Because you’re playing the key to the right of E. It’s a half step higher than E. There’s B# as well which is the key to the immediate right of B. So the key that plays C can also play B#. B# and C are enharmonic equivalents of each other. There’s Cb as well, which is a half step lower than C and this key also plays the note, B. There’s also Fb which is a half step lower than F and also plays the note, E. So there’s B#, Cb, E# and Fb and they are played with white keys.

I trust that you now know how to label the keys of the piano keyboard. Go here to learn more about piano keys and notes.

Thank you very much. My name is Mantius Cazaubon. I am the creator of Piano-Keyboard-Guide.com. For a lot more, be sure to check out my books at Amazon.com. They will take you to the next level in playing the piano. Thank you very much, one love, all the best.

Piano Keys and Notes for Beginners – Sharps and Flats – Easy Lesson

August 10, 2017August 16, 2017 Mantius Cazaubon

In this easy piano lesson, we take a look at the topic, “Piano Keys and Notes for Beginners – Sharps and Flats”. If you’re an absolute beginner learning the notes that correspond to the keys of the piano, you should find this lesson very valuable. The following is a video transcript and you may watch the video below.

Hello once again. It’s Mantius Cazaubon of www.Piano-Keyboard-Guide.com and I just want to give you a little tip about something which beginners especially often find confusing. They don’t realize that there can be an E sharp (E#), a B sharp (B#), an F flat (Fb) and a C flat (Cb). Let me tell you this: Every note can be either sharp or flat. So there’s Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb and Gb. There’s also A#, B#, C#, D#, E#, F# and G#.

On your keyboard, how would you play B#? Sharp simply means to play the key to the immediate right of a key. So if I tell you to play B#, you’ll be playing the same as the C key on your keyboard. What if I tell you to play C flat? Flat simply means, in simple terms, to play the key to the left of a key, so if I tell you C flat, you’ll be playing the key, B on your keyboard. Notes and keys are not the same. Okay? So don’t let it confuse you. Any note can be sharp or flat.

Here’s the video.

Piano Keys and Notes for Beginners – Sharps and Flats – Easy Lesson

As you learn music theory, you will realize how basic this really is. So just think of playing what is called a “half step” higher. If you see A#, it means to play the note which is a half step higher than A. So you play the key that is immediately after A. That’s all it means. This is a black key. If you see B# all it means is to play a note that is a half step higher than B. So you play the key that is immediately after B. On your keyboard it’s the same as C, in terms of the key that is played. But it’s not really C. In practice, you’re playing the same key, but in theory it’s a different note.

As I said, notes and keys are not the same. The same key can play different notes. So if I tell you to play Cb (C flat), you will be playing the same key that is used to play B. In theory, you are playing Cb, but in practice, you’re pressing the same key on your instrument and it sounds the same. All C flat really means is to play the note that is a semitone or half step lower than C. Another word for half step is “semitone”. So play a half step lower.

White keys can be sharp or flat just like black keys are either sharp or flat. Or to put it better, white keys can play notes that are sharp or flat, just like black keys play notes that are either sharp or flat.

So this was just a short video where we took a look at sharps and flats, a topic I find very interesting. I hope you got some value out of it.

To learn more about the notes of the piano keyboard and musical notes in general, check out this page.

End of “Piano Keys and Notes for Beginners – Sharps and Flats – Easy Lesson“.