White keys take seven letters, C D E F G A B, repeating up the keyboard; each black key is named from a neighbor with a sharp or a flat. Black keys come in groups of two and three, and C sits just left of every two.
How are the piano keys named?
Look at the black keys first. They are grouped in twos and threes all the way up, and that pattern is the whole map: C is the white key just left of a group of two, F the white key just left of a group of three. From C the white keys run C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and then C again, one octave higher.
Two octaves, C3 to B4, with every white key named.The same two octaves with the black keys marked: two, three, two, three.
What are the black keys called?
A black key has no letter of its own. It is named from the white key on either side: a sharp (♯) raises a note a half step and a flat (♭) lowers it, so the black key between C and D is both C♯ and D♭. Which name a score uses depends on the key the music is in, not on the piano.
One black key, two names: C♯ from the C below it, D♭ from the D above.
White keys
Black keys
All keys
One octave
7
5
12
A full piano
52
36
88
What do the numbers after the letters mean?
The number says which octave a note is in. Octaves are counted from C, so every C starts a new number: the C nearest the middle of the keyboard is C4, the B just below it is B3, and the D above it is D4. A full piano runs from A0 at the bottom to C8 at the top.
Common questions
How many keys does a piano have?
A standard piano has 88: 52 white and 36 black, from A0 to C8. Digital keyboards often have 61 or 76 keys, which is plenty to learn on, and the names repeat in the same pattern on any size.
Why is there no black key between E and F?
Because E and F are already a half step apart. A black key sits only where two white keys are a whole step apart, and the two half steps in every octave, E–F and B–C, are what split the black keys into twos and threes.
How do I find middle C?
Find the group of two black keys nearest the middle of the keyboard, usually right in front of the brand name. Middle C is the white key immediately to its left.
Do piano keys have do re mi names too?
Yes. In solfège the white keys from C are do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, and many countries name the keys that way instead of with letters. It is the same keyboard and the same pattern under different names.