how to play piano

Welcome! I'm so excited to help you start your piano-playing journey today. Before we dive into exploring the keyboard, I'd love to learn a little bit about your setup and what you hope to achieve.

What kind of piano or keyboard do you have available to practice on, and do you have any specific goals or styles of music in mind?

I have an electronic keyboard and want to play pop/modern songs.

It is great to have you here! Since you are practicing on an electronic keyboard and want to jump into playing pop and modern songs, we are going to focus on the quickest, most practical path to get your hands making music.

Your path

Proper Posture and Hand Position

Pop Chord Basics and Triads

Pop Progressions and Both Hands

To get started, let's look down at your keyboard. You will notice a repeating pattern of that are grouped together.

A piano keyboard illustrating the repeating pattern of black keys in groups of two and three.

I have created a simple visualization above to help you see how these black keys are arranged. Can you look at your own keyboard right now and find a group of two black keys, and then a group of three black keys?

Continue to locating Middle C

Let's find our very first landmark note: Middle C. It's the absolute anchor for almost everything you'll play in pop music.

To find C, look at the repeating pattern of on your keyboard. Find any group of two black keys. If you press the white key immediately to the left of that two-black-key group, you've found C! Middle C is simply the C that sits closest to the very center of your keyboard.

A piano keyboard highlighting a two-black-key group and pointing an arrow to the white C key to its left.

Once you've found Middle C, you actually know the names of all the white keys! The piano uses the musical alphabet, which just goes from A to G and then repeats. Starting on C, as you move up (to the right), the white keys are simply C - D - E - F - G - A - B, and then you land on the next C right above that!

Got it! Let's continue to proper posture and hand position.

Now that we have mapped out the keys, we are ready to move on to our second step: making sure your body and hands are in the perfect position to play naturally and comfortably.

Your path

Pop Chord Basics and Triads

Pop Progressions and Both Hands

Finding Your Seat at the Keys

Before you play a single note, how you sit sets the foundation for your entire technique. Good posture keeps you relaxed and helps you avoid tension in your neck, back, and shoulders.

Posture Checklist	How to Achieve It
Bench Position	Sit on the front half of the bench, not all the way back, so your legs support your weight.
Distance	Position yourself so your elbows bend at roughly a 100-degree angle when your hands are on the keys.
Shoulders	Keep your shoulders completely relaxed and hanging naturally down, not hunched up.

Think of sitting at the keyboard like being an active athlete. Sitting too far back or slouching restricts your movement and forces your upper body to tense up, which slows down your hands when you try to play fast pop rhythms.

Decoding Your Finger Numbers

In piano music and chord tutorials, we use a simple numbering system for our fingers rather than writing out "thumb" or "index finger" every time. Both of your hands use the exact same starting from the inside out.

Left and right hands side by side with fingers numbered 1 to 5 from thumb to pinky.

I've created a simple guide above showing how this works. On both your left and right hands, your thumbs are always 1 and your pinkies are always 5. Can you try sitting upright on the edge of your seat, placing your hands flat on your lap, and wiggling your finger 3s (your middle fingers) on both hands at the same time?

How should I position my wrists while doing this?

Wiggling your finger 3s is a great way to check in with your hands, and your wrists are the secret to keeping those fingers moving freely.

The Golden Rule: Keep Your Wrists Flexible

When you play, your wrists should act like shock absorbers. They should be loose, flexible, and level with the keyboard—never sagging below the keys or tensed up high in the air. Think of your hand like a structure. The weight of your arm should flow smoothly through your wrist and into your fingertips. If your wrist collapses down and rests on the wood of the keyboard, your fingers lose all their leverage and you won't be able to play quick pop rhythms.

A side-by-side anatomical profile showing correct level wrist posture with domed fingers versus incorrect collapsed wrist posture with flat fingers at a keyboard.

To find that perfect, relaxed wrist height, try this quick test: place your hands on the keys as if you are gently holding a tennis ball in each palm. This naturally curves your fingers and lifts your wrists into a neutral, level position. Now, try gently bouncing your wrists up and down a tiny bit while keeping your fingertips resting on the keys. Does that feel loose and relaxed, or do you feel tension in your forearms?