Middle C (C4, MIDI 60) is the C near the center of the piano and the one note the two staves share — the first ledger line below the treble staff, and the first above the bass staff.
The black keys run in groups of two and three, and that is the only pattern on the keyboard. To find any C, find a group of two black keys: the white key immediately to its left is C. Do that near the middle of the instrument and you have middle C.
Every white key just left of a two-black-key group is a C. The highlighted one is middle C.
It is called middle C for where it sits in the notation rather than on the instrument: it is the single note on the invisible line between the two staves.
Treble staff: middle C sits on the first ledger line below.Bass staff: the same note, on the first ledger line above.
What it is called
Written
Which naming system
Middle C
C4
Note name (scientific pitch notation)
do
1
Solfège — in movable do it is not always C
60
60
MIDI number
Common questions
Is middle C C3 or C4?
C4 in scientific pitch notation, which is how MIDI number 60 is usually labeled. Some software and keyboards count octaves from C−2 instead and label the very same key C3, so check which note a program calls 60 before trusting the label.
Where is middle C on the staff?
Halfway between the two staves of the grand staff, on a short ledger line of its own. Count down from the treble staff's bottom line, E: the space below is D, and the ledger line under that is middle C.
How do I find middle C on an 88-key piano?
Count the Cs from the left end: C1 is the first and middle C is the fourth. Each C is the white key just left of a pair of black keys, so you can climb from the lowest pair, one group at a time.