LEARN PIANO MAJOR SCALES

Learn to play piano notes

........C#/Db.. D#/Eb.........F#/Gb...G#/Ab..A#/Bb

C

D

E

F

G

A

B

Naming the notes on the piano:

How do you name the notes?

Well, just memorize what you see; remembering as well that everything just repeats itself throughout the keyboard, so you only need to memorize only 12 notes (more about this later).

In learning the notes, you really need to locate a C and F note on the piano, and then next time you look for any other note, make your reference starting from C or F.

So how do you recall where these two notes are on the keyboard? Well, it all lies in the black notes. Let us look how these black notes are grouped together. If you notice carefully, these black notes go in 2’s and 3’s. The first set is the C#/Db and D#/Eb. Now take the set of any 2 black notes, then again take the note on the left-hand side(which is C#/Db,note that you can either call this note C# or Db, it does not matter, don’t fret because I will be explaining this just now).

Now since you’ve found your left-hand note of the 2 black notes, just go to note just to the bottom-left of it, what is the note, it’s the note C of course. Now anywhere on the keyboard, as long as you can locate any 2 set of black notes and point to the one on the left(C#), and go to the bottom-left of this note(C#), there you shall find a C note.

Do the same for locating an F note. Now take the set of any 3 black notes, then again take the note on the left-hand side(which is F#/Gb,note that you can either call this note F# or Gb, it does not matter.

Now since you’ve found your left-hand note from the 3 black notes, which are F#, just go to the note just to the bottom-left of it, what is the note; it’s the note F of course. Now anywhere on the keyboard, as long as you can locate any group of 3 black notes and point to the one on the left(F#), and go to the bottom-left of this note, you shall find an F note.

White notes…

The order of the notes is this:

C D E F G A B C,

NOTE: Since we want to go back to C, we use the basic A, B after the G. Make sure you memorize these knows. Know them by heart so that you can speak the language of the piano.

Learning The Piano Black notes (Flats and sharps)

What do these terms: ‘# and b’? Well,

# = sharp (a note just to right of any note)

b = flat (a note to the left of any note)

Examples:

1. the note just(half a step) to left of D is called a Db and the note just to right of D is D#

2. the note just(half a step) to left of C is called a Cb and the note just to right of C is C#

From these two examples and referring to the piano diagram, it can be seen that Db is the same as C#; D# is the same as Eb and Cb is the same as B.

On the piano there are 12 unique notes/keys, that is, every note between C and C will repeat itself every 12 notes. If you count every note starting from any C up to the next B, you realize that there are 12 notes in between and from then on the whole arrangement starts over again, repeating itself. 7 of them are white and 5 of them are black.

C

D

E

F

G

A

B

C -Db–D–Eb–E-F–Gb–G–Ab–A– Bb- B

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12

(when you play every note going up the keyboard without skipping any note, it is called a chromatic scale)

…and the whole pattern will start over on the next C, repeating itself. So, there are only 12 unique notes/keys on the piano.

How does this background information help us? Well, it helps us reach the following conclusions about the piano:

Ø There are 12 major/minor chords

Ø There are 12 major scales & minor scales

Ø A song can be played in 12 major keys

What is a key? The best way to understand this is by knowing what a major scale is.

click here for lesson 2