Let's start with the basics. A piano keyboard is a repeating pattern of white and black keys. The white keys are the main notes, and the black keys sit in groups of two and three between them. This pattern is your map for finding any note.

Think of the black keys as landmarks. Once you can spot the groups of two and three, you'll never be lost. Every note on the keyboard is named after one of just seven letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. After G, the cycle starts over again with A.

The most important note to find first is C. To find any C on the keyboard, look for a group of two black keys. The white key immediately to the left of that group is always C.

Once you've found C, you can name all the other white keys by moving up the musical alphabet. The key to the right of C is D, then E, F, G, A, B, and then the next C. The pattern is always the same.

The distance from one C to the next C is called an octave. An octave contains all seven notes of the musical alphabet, plus the five black keys. If you play a C and then the next C up the keyboard, you'll notice they sound like the same note, but one is higher in pitch than the other.

This pattern of octaves repeats all the way up and down the piano. A standard piano has just over seven octaves. The C found closest to the middle of the keyboard is famously called Middle C.

For now, focus on identifying the notes within a single octave. Once you can do that, you can do it anywhere on the keyboard. The landscape is the same, whether you're in the low, middle, or high range.

Time to check your understanding of the keyboard layout.

Great work. Now that you know your way around the keyboard, you're ready to start making music.