Piano keys follow one pattern that repeats from the bottom of the keyboard to the top: seven white keys and five black keys, twelve keys in all. The white keys are named with the letters A to G, and the black keys sit in alternating groups of two and three, which is how you find your place. A full-size piano has 88 keys, 52 white and 36 black, running from A0 at the far left to C8 at the far right.
White keys and the musical alphabet
Music uses only seven letter names: A, B, C, D, E, F and G. After G, the alphabet starts again at A, so the same seven names repeat up the whole keyboard, and every white key has one of them. Each key sounds a little higher than the key to its left, so the piano runs from low on the left to high on the right.
Lessons usually start from C rather than A, because the white keys from one C to the next make the C major scale, and because octave numbers change at C.
The black keys are your landmarks
The white keys all look alike, so you find them by the black keys next to them:
| Landmark | White keys around it |
|---|---|
| A group of two black keys | C just left of it, D between the two, E just right of it |
| A group of three black keys | F just left of it, G and A between the three, B just right of it |
So every C is the white key just left of a pair of black keys, and every F is just left of a group of three. Once you see that, you never need to count from the end of the keyboard.
Sharps and flats: naming the black keys
Each black key takes its name from a white neighbor. A sharp (#) means the key just to the right, a half step higher, and a flat (b) means the key just to the left, a half step lower. That gives every black key two names:
- C# = Db, between C and D
- D# = Eb, between D and E
- F# = Gb, between F and G
- G# = Ab, between G and A
- A# = Bb, between A and B
Both names mean the same key; which one a piece uses depends on its key.
Half steps and whole steps
The distance from one key to the very next key, black or white, is a half step, also called a semitone. Two half steps make a whole step. C to C# is a half step, and C to D is a whole step. E to F and B to C are half steps even though both keys are white, because no black key sits between them. Those two missing black keys are exactly what split the black keys into groups of two and three.
Octaves and octave numbers
From one C to the next C is an octave: 8 white keys if you count both Cs, or 12 half steps. The upper C vibrates exactly twice as fast as the lower one, which is why the two sound alike and share a name.
To tell the Cs apart, each note gets an octave number, and the number goes up by one at every C. The lowest C on a piano is C1, middle C is C4, and the top key is C8. The three keys below C1 are A0, A#0 and B0. The key just below middle C is B3, and the white key just above it is D4.
Finding middle C
Middle C (C4) is the C closest to the center of the piano, a little to the left of the exact middle. On an 88-key piano it's the fourth C from the left; on most 61-key keyboards it's the third. On the keyboard on this page, every C from C2 to C6 is lit, and middle C is the one in the center.
Middle C matters because so much starts from it. In the next lesson your right thumb goes on it, and in written music it sits on the short line between the two staves.
Practice: name the keys
- Play every C from the bottom of the keyboard to the top, then every F.
- Starting on middle C, play C D E F G A B C going up and say each name out loud.
- Point at any white key, find the nearest group of black keys, and name it.
- Play the five black keys in one octave and say both names for each.
- Check yourself with the Labels menu on the keyboard on this page: show note names, then choose None. In the Do Re Mi labels, C is Do, D is Re, and so on.
Next lesson
Now that you can find any key, learn how to sit at the piano and where your fingers go in hand position. It introduces the finger numbers and the C position you'll use for your first song.
How to find any note on the piano
- Find a group of two black keys anywhere on the keyboard.
- Name the white keys around it: C just left of it, D between the two black keys, E just right of it.
- Find the next group of three black keys: F is just left of it, G and A sit between its keys, and B is just right of it.
- Name a black key from a neighbor: the white key on its left plus a sharp, or the one on its right plus a flat. The key between C and D is C# or Db.
- Find middle C: on an 88-key piano it is the fourth C from the left, written C4.
Frequently asked questions
How many keys does a piano have?
A standard piano has 88 keys: 52 white and 36 black. They run from A0, the lowest A, up to C8, the highest C.
Why are the black keys in groups of two and three?
Most neighboring white keys are a whole step apart, with a black key between them. E and F, and B and C, are only a half step apart, so there is no black key between them, and those two gaps split the black keys into groups of two and three.
Where is middle C on the piano?
Middle C is the white key just left of a group of two black keys, a little left of the center of the keyboard. On an 88-key piano it is the fourth C from the left, and on most 61-key keyboards it is the third.
What are the black keys called?
Each black key has two names, a sharp and a flat. The black key just right of C is C#, and it is the same key as Db, the black key just left of D.
What does the number in C4 or A4 mean?
It is the octave number, and it goes up by one at every C. B3 is the key just below middle C (C4), and A4 is the A just above middle C, the standard tuning note at 440 Hz.
Do I need an 88-key piano to learn?
No. Every lesson on this site uses keys between C2 and C6, which a 61-key keyboard covers.