A piano has 88 keys, 36 are black and 52 are white. When depressing the keys, you trigger hammers inside the piano to hit strings, which is what produces the sound. The keyboard has white keys that are tuned to play “natural” notes, and black keys that are tuned to play flat and sharp notes. (This is an over-simplification, but this is an article for pure beginners.) The first key (on the leftmost side of the keyboard) is an A and the final key (on the rightmost side) is a C.

Piano keys are laid out in what are called semitones, or half steps, and are arranged to follow a chromatic scale (each key is one half step away from the adjacent one). You will see alternating black and white keys all the way up the keyboard, except there are no black keys between the B and C or between the E and F because there are no black keys between those notes.

Some people believe that the piano is based on the C scale, but that is not so. The piano can accommodate you playing any musical scale; simply find your starting note, and play the remaining notes of the scale in the correct order. Playing left to right will cause ascending tones to play, while playing right to left has the opposite effect, resulting in descending tones.

You can also examine the octaves of a piano keyboard. An octave is defined as a note that is one full scale higher or lower than the original note (the first and last note of a scale). Even if played an octave apart, notes that carry the same pitch have the same name — so you can play an A, then play another A an octave higher or lower. Notes are measured by their pitch (a specific note or tone). Pitch (hz) is a measure of cycles per second. Let’s look at an A, which is measured at 440hz, then the A above (an octave higher) which measures 880hz. Another octave up the scale, the next higher A measures 1760 hz. The basic framework for the scales and chords is provided by the octaves.

Pianists face many challenges, including developing the ability to stretch their hands and fingers far enough to reach all of the keys needed to play certain groups of notes that produce chords or arpeggios. The required strength and flexibility are built up over time, using certain, specific exercises designed to do this. Sometimes the music calls for all ten fingers to be playing a piece as written. As a basic rule, the left hand is used to play the lower notes that appears on the bass clef, while the right hand is used to play notes on the treble clef. The right hand is usually used to play the song’s melody, while the left hand supports the melody with a harmony of some kind. (Again, an over-simplification.)

It is highly unusual but possible for a portable, electronic keyboard to have all 88 keys. Considering how big or small it is and what it is used for, a portable keyboard can have as little as 24 keys. The keyboard player is restricted by its limited number of keys, and frequently has to adapt the music to it by playing an octave higher and lower than originally intended.

For a wide variety of courses in playing the keyboard please visit our online catalog of piano courses.