Learn Piano or Keyboard
Learn 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 Keyboard
The 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 middle
The final notes to learn are D which is in between C and E, just like the alphabet
and G and A.
G comes exactly where you imagine it should, just after F
but then A follows G.
This is because the musical alphabet only has 7 letters (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) so once you arrive at G you begin on A once more.
Fortunately this is easy to remember because A is followed by B...just like the alphabet!
I want to learn piano
If you want to actually learn piano you have 3 options.
- Find a local piano teacher to give you lessons
- Wait for my upcoming book on learning the piano (this should be available sometime around March 2010
- Use the Rocket Piano course which is the only
online piano course I feel able to recommend...although there is no
substitute for getting a good one-to-one teacher. However, if cost is an
implication Rocket Piano is less than an entire semester of lessons for an entire beginner-to-advanced piano course!
A Clear Path To Learning Music Theory
For more help check out my new theory book Essential Music Theory: Learn To Read And Appreciate Music Vol. 1 available for iPad and Mac OS.
- A simple step-by-step course that takes you from complete beginner to grade 2 music theory
- Multi-faceted learning - audio, video, mind maps, clear musical examples
- Built in quizzes to check your understanding
Click here for more information.
Or get it on the iBooks Store!