---
title: "Piano Theory from Scratch · Piakno"
description: "One complete path from nothing: read the staff fluently, build hands that hold up, then the sense of key and harmony underneath it — and finally short pieces that tie the whole thing together. Every lesson has a bar you have to clear. Reading it through is not the same as having learned it."
url: "https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations"
lang: "en"
alternates:
  en: "https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations.md"
  zh-Hans: "https://piakno.com/zh-Hans/course/piano-foundations.md"
  zh-Hant: "https://piakno.com/zh-Hant/course/piano-foundations.md"
  ja: "https://piakno.com/ja/course/piano-foundations.md"
  ko: "https://piakno.com/ko/course/piano-foundations.md"
  es: "https://piakno.com/es/course/piano-foundations.md"
  de: "https://piakno.com/de/course/piano-foundations.md"
  pt-BR: "https://piakno.com/pt-BR/course/piano-foundations.md"
---

# Piano Theory from Scratch

> One complete path from nothing: read the staff fluently, build hands that hold up, then the sense of key and harmony underneath it — and finally short pieces that tie the whole thing together. Every lesson has a bar you have to clear. Reading it through is not the same as having learned it.

- [Lesson 1 · Posture: a body that can play for an hour](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/1)
- [Lesson 2 · Three sets of names: fingers, letters, syllables](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/2)
- [Lesson 3 · Beat and note value: the pulse of music](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/3)
- [Lesson 6 · Keyboard geography: right is higher](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/6)
- [Lesson 7 · How the staff actually works](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/7)
- [Lesson 18 · The two anchors: G4 and F3](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/18)
- [Lesson 26 · The three-part reading method](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/26)
- [Lesson 27 · Fingers 4 and 5, standing up](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/27)
- [Lesson 37 · Putting the crescendos and the ritardando into a piece](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/37)
- [Lesson 38 · Hands together: starting at the same moment](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/38)
- [Lesson 46 · The thumb under](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/46)
- [Lesson 52 · Seconds and thirds](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/52)
- [Lesson 58 · Whole steps and half steps](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/58)
- [Lesson 60 · What chords do: settled, leaving, coming home](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/60)
- [Lesson 68 · What a minor key is](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/68)
- [Lesson 76 · Swing](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/76)
- [Lesson 83 · Keys and scales](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/83)
- [Lesson 88 · Major and minor triads](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/88)
- [Lesson 100 · A daily practice routine](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/100)