Piano Keys and Notes Explained: How to Read the Keyboard (Beginner's Guide)

How many keys does a piano have?

A standard acoustic piano has 88 keys: 52 white keys and 36 black keys, covering a little more than seven octaves. Most digital pianos copy this format. Home keyboards often have 61 keys (five octaves), and compact MIDI controllers have 49, 37, 25 or 24 keys.

For learning, the number of keys matters less than you might think. Almost every beginner piece fits in two or three octaves, which is why 24 or 25 keys are enough for the first months and 61 keys for the first years. What matters more is full-size keys and touch sensitivity, meaning the harder you press, the louder the note.

The pattern that repeats: groups of black keys

Look at the black keys: they come in a group of two, then a group of three, alternating all along the keyboard. This pattern repeats every twelve keys, and it is all you need to find any note.

• The white key just left of the two black keys is C.
• The white key between the two black keys is D.
• The white key just left of the three black keys is F.
• The white key just right of the three black keys is B.

Once you see these landmarks, you never need to count keys from the edge of the keyboard again.

The names of the white keys

In English, the seven white keys are named with letters: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. After B comes C again, one octave higher. In French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and many other languages, the same keys are called Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si. They are exactly the same notes:

• C = Do
• D = Re
• E = Mi
• F = Fa
• G = Sol
• A = La
• B = Si

Why does the alphabet start on C and not on A? For historical reasons: the scale of C major uses only white keys, so it became the natural starting point for learning, even though the letters were assigned starting from A centuries ago.

Black keys: sharps and flats

Each black key has two names. The black key just right of C is C sharp (C♯), because it is a little higher than C. It is also D flat (D♭), because it is a little lower than D. Both names describe the same key; which one is used depends on the piece.

The five black keys of an octave are therefore C♯/D♭, D♯/E♭, F♯/G♭, G♯/A♭ and A♯/B♭. Notice that there is no black key between E and F, or between B and C. These pairs of white keys are already as close as two notes can be.

Half steps, whole steps and octaves

The distance between two neighboring keys, white or black, is a half step (also called a semitone). Two half steps make a whole step (a tone). C to C♯ is a half step, C to D is a whole step, and E to F is a half step because nothing sits between them.

Twelve half steps make an octave. Two notes an octave apart share the same name and sound like a higher or lower version of each other, because the higher one vibrates exactly twice as fast.

The major scale, the sound of Do Re Mi, follows the pattern whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Starting on C, this pattern lands only on white keys, which is why C major is the first scale everyone learns.

Middle C and octave numbers

Notes are numbered by octave. In the most common international system, middle C is C4, the A just above it is A4, the 440 Hz note used to tune orchestras, the lowest key of an 88-key piano is A0 and the highest is C8. French methods often call middle C Do3: it is the same key with a different numbering.

When a tutorial says C4 or Do3, look for the C closest to the middle of your keyboard. On a small keyboard, the octave buttons shift the whole range up or down, so the leftmost key is not always the same C. Showing note names on the keys of the on-screen piano, as DOLI PIANO does, removes any doubt.

Memorize the keyboard in one week

Five minutes a day is enough:

• Day 1: play every C on the keyboard, from left to right, then every F.
• Day 2: every D and E, around the groups of two black keys.
• Day 3: every G, A and B, around the groups of three black keys.
• Day 4: close your eyes and find a C by touch, feeling the two black keys.
• Day 5: think of a random note name and play it as fast as you can, in several octaves.
• Days 6 and 7: play a short melody while saying the note names out loud.

Turn note names on during the first days, then turn them off to test yourself.

Where to put your hands

Most beginner music places the right thumb on middle C, with the other fingers resting on D, E, F and G. The left hand mirrors it below: little finger on the C one octave lower, thumb on G. This is called the C position, and it is the starting point of our complete beginner's guide to playing piano.

Practice on a virtual keyboard

You can practice everything in this guide right now, for free: open DOLI PIANO in your browser, turn on note names, and play the on-screen keys with your mouse, your fingers on a tablet, your computer keyboard or a real MIDI keyboard connected by USB.

Frequently asked questions