Learn Piano or KeyboardLearn piano or learn keyboard are my top tips for anyone wanting to improve their understanding of music theory. Knowing the layout of the piano keyboard is so helpful when it comes to so many aspects of music theory including intervals, chords, scales, harmony, modulation...the list is endless. Having just a basic knowledge of the layout of the piano keyboard and where the notes are is a huge help to start with and being able to play some basic keyboard will help as well. I'm not necessarily advocating you learn piano with a specialist teacher, just that you know enough about the layout of the piano keyboard to help you and you are able to play enough on the keyboard to form basic chords and scales. If you really do want to learn to play the piano (and many people I talk to at gigs often tell me how they wish they had either continued piano lessons or had the opportunity to take them) and don't want to organise formal piano lessons I highly recommend the Rocket Piano Course. Click here to learn more about the Rocket Piano course Of course, you don't need to learn piano in a formal way just to learn the position of the notes on the keyboard...you can do that right here! The piano keyboardThe piano keyboard has white notes and black notes. The white notes are next to each other and the black notes are divided into groups of two and three which alternate up the keyboard. Here is a picture of the piano keyboard.
We use the grouping of the black notes to help identify the white notes. The first white note to learn is C. Many people know how to find C on a piano, whether they learn piano or not! C is found directly to the left of any group of 2 black notes.. There are 2 Cs marked on the keyboard diagram below.
The next note to learn is F. F is found directly to the left of a group of 3 black notes.F is marked on the keyboard diagram below. There is only one F marked, but you can pick out more Fs on the 1st picture of the piano keyboard. Each note that is directly to the left of a group of 3 black notes is an F.
The next notes to learn are those on the right of the group of w and the group of 3. E is found directly to the right of a group of 2 black notes
B is found directly to the right of a group of 3 black notes
The notes in the middleThe final notes to learn are D which is in between C and E, just like the alphabet
and G and A.
Practice makes perfect!The best way to learn the notes on the piano keyboard quickly is to practice finding them.Click here to download a sheet with blank keyboards on to help you learn piano note positions. Once you are confident you know the positions of the notes click here to take a short online quiz about the notes on the piano keyboard. If you learn piano and want to know more about making faster progress by achieving more in your practice time Click here to read more about my book Practice Makes Perfect If you want an actual keyboard (as opposed to a printed one) to practise on Click here for advice and reviews of various different keyboards, acoustic and electric pianos I want to learn pianoIf you want to actually learn piano you have 3 options.
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