Piano keys: how the piano keyboard is arranged (88 keys, white, black, etc)

There are 36 black and 52 white keys (88 total) on a piano. These keys trigger hammers inside the piano that strike the piano’s strings to produce sound. The white keys are a piano’s “natural” notes while the black keys are used for notes that are either sharp or flat. The first key (on the far left of the keyboard) is the note A and the last key (on the right), the note C.

The keys are arranged in half steps (semitones) and in the order of a chromatic scale (half step, half step, half step, etc.). The white and black keys alternate except for the fact that there are no black keys (sharp or flat notes) between the notes B and C, or E and F (the notes B#, Cb, E# and Fb do not exist).

Some think the piano is based on a C scale, but that is really not the case. You can play any scale on the piano (a D minor scale, an Ab 7 scale, etc.) simply by choosing a certain starting point (piano key) and playing the notes in the proper order. Playing left to right creates ascending (higher and higher) notes, playing right to left creates descending notes.

The piano keyboard can also be looked at from the standpoint of octaves. An octave is an interval casually thought of as “one scale” above or below the reference note (or the beginning and ending note of a scale). The note names of notes an octave apart are the same (i.e., you can play the note E, then play another E an octave higher). Notes an octave apart (and all notes for that matter) are measured as a certain Pitch (a particular note or tone). Pitch is measured in cycles per second (written as hz). Whereas the note A is measured at 440hz, the A above (an octave higher) is measured at 880hz. The note A above that (another octave higher) is measured at 1760hz. Octaves provide a basic framework for scales and chords.

One of the challenges of a pianist is the stretching of the hands and fingers to play certain combinations of notes that produce chords or arpeggios. It takes time to develop the flexibility and strength needed and certain exercises are used for that purpose. At times, all ten fingers are needed to play the music as written (or desired). As a general rule in music written for the piano, the left hand plays the notes of the bass clef, while the right hand plays the notes of the treble clef. Typically, the melody of the piece is played by the right hand (with the left hand often providing bass notes, runs, and arpeggios). Â 

Portable, electronic keyboards rarely contain all 88 keys. Depending on size and purpose, a portable keyboard can contain as few as 24 keys. The musician is limited in the number of notes that can be played and often has to “rearrange” the melody and chords by playing one octave above or below the intended passages.