Piano Keys & Piano Notes: What's The Difference?

Is There Any Difference Between Piano Notes & Piano Keys?

Good morning. This is Duane and today, I’d like to talk about the difference between piano keys and piano notes. By the way, this short little video is just for beginners. Okay? I presume, if you’re more advanced, you can know the difference but there is some confusion with beginners about the difference between keys and notes. They think of them as the same thing. Technically, keys are these things you see as white and black articles on the piano. Those are piano keys, right? Piano notes are the notes that the keys make. In other words, when I press a piano key, it makes a piano pitch of some sort. That pitch is C defined by the vibrations per second. That becomes a note, a musical note that can be written on paper. The symbol is not the note, it is a symbol of a note. Right?

We have three things. We’ve got the piano keys and then we have the symbol of the note, which is a whole note, or quarter note, or half note, or whatever it is. Then the note itself, which is C, or D, or F, or G. Let’s walk throughout the piano notes, they keys and the notes. This is a C on a piano, a piano key C, but it makes a piano note C. D, E, F, G, A, B, C. In other words, there’s only the alphabet notes or the alphabet A through G. Right? Then it starts over again. It starts down at the beginning bottom of the keyboard, A, B, C, D, E, F, G. A, B, C, D, E, F, G. A, B, C, and so on through the top of the keyboard.

The black keys, the black piano keys are sharps and plats. For example, if I go up a half step from C, that’s called C sharp. That’s called D sharp. That’s called F sharp. That’s called G sharp. That’s called A sharp. Now, if I’m coming down, if I go a half step below B, that’s B flat. A flat. G flat. E flat. D flat. In other words, the black keys have two names. Each black key is both the sharp and a flat, depending on how it’s used. That note is both C … That key and that note is both C sharp and D flat. That key is both D sharp and E flat. That black key is F sharp and G flat. That black key is G sharp and A flat and that black key is both A sharp and B flat.

Those are piano keys and they produce piano notes. I think you can tell it from the illustration how they’re related. Just take a look at that for a minute and that will be it today. Thanks for being with me and we’ll see again tomorrow. Bye-bye for now.