Finding notes on the keyboard can be easy with some fantastic landmarks to help you out. Thankfully the piano is perfectly designed for this! To start with, you’ll learn where C, D, and E are on your piano!
P.S. If you haven’t read or watch the first video in this series for beginners, be sure to learn about black key groups and the musical alphabet. We will be using each concept in the following articles/videos.
Your New Best Friend: 2 Black Key Groups
You may have naturally assumed we would start with A since it’s the beginning of our musical alphabet. But, it’s much easier to start with physical and visual landmarks on the piano to learn what each note it called.
Which is why the repeating groups of two black keys are your best friend in finding C, D, and E!
Use Imagery
Imagery is another powerful learning tool. You can use whichever image works best for you, but below I’ll share mine.
Imagine the two black keys create a dog house. Inside is the Dog (D). To the left, going lower, is the Cat (C). To the right, going higher, is E which is … the Elephant. Oh my! I really hope the dog house was built strong!
Part of what makes this image work is that it’s so silly. Where I live, we don’t have elephants hanging out around dog houses.
Whatever image you choose, make it memorable. Even better, choose something that brings a smile to your face.
A Little Practice
- Find the lowest C on the keyboard using your 2 black key group. Play C, D, E while saying it.
- Play each group going up the piano. Be sure to say the notes since it helps it stick in your brain better.
- Play each group of E, D, C going DOWN the piano. Remember the order of notes changes!
Improvising Music With C, D, And E
If you’ve read the previous articles, you already know improvising is creating music in the moment. It’s a fantastic, low risk way of using a new concept (like finding notes on the keyboard) in a new way!
Create a mini-song by changing how long (or short) you hold each note!
- Choose any group of C, D, and E. Play the notes in any order as many times as you would like.
- Challenge yourself by moving between different groups on the piano!
For an example of what this could look like, watch the video above.
Finding C, D, And E On Your Piano
Finding notes on the keyboard can be easy when using the black key groups.
What is the image you use to remember where C, D, and E are on the keyboard?
Let me know in the comments. Feel free to link to your improvisation (if you have it on socials or YouTube).
If you like this approach to learning piano, click to set up an interview to join our online piano studio!
