A chart of every key, plus a game that teaches them with the black-key groups as landmarks. Name the key or find the note. Free, no signup.
Black keys have two names: the sharp of the key below or the flat of the key above. Full chart and how to remember it ↓
The piano uses just 12 notes: seven white keys named with the letters A to G, and five black keys in between. That pattern repeats in every octave, so once you know one octave you know the whole keyboard. A full-size piano has 88 keys (52 white, 36 black) running from A0 to C8; a 61-key keyboard has the same pattern, just fewer repeats.
| Key | Name | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| White | C | Left of the two black keys |
| White | D | Between the two black keys |
| White | E | Right of the two black keys |
| White | F | Left of the three black keys |
| White | G and A | Between the three black keys (G first, then A) |
| White | B | Right of the three black keys |
| Black | C♯/D♭, D♯/E♭ | The group of two |
| Black | F♯/G♭, G♯/A♭, A♯/B♭ | The group of three |
Don't count up from A. Look at the black keys: they come in groups of two and three. C is always the white key just left of a group of two, and F is always just left of a group of three. Everything else hangs off those two anchors: D sits between the two black keys, E just after them; G and A sit inside the group of three and B comes after it. That's why the game's first level is C D E and the second is F G A B.
Most neighbouring white keys are a whole step apart, with a black key between them. But E to F and B to C are only a half step (a semitone) apart, so there's no black key there. Those two gaps split the black keys into the groups of two and three. It's also why "E sharp" lands on the white key F, a spelling you'll only meet in more advanced music.
A sharp raises a note by a half step and a flat lowers it by a half step. So the black key between C and D is C♯ (C raised) and also D♭ (D lowered). Two names for one key are called enharmonic spellings. Which one you see in sheet music depends on the key the piece is in. The interactive circle of fifths shows which sharps or flats belong to each key.
Middle C (C4) is the C closest to the centre of the keyboard, usually near the brand name. It's the meeting point of the treble and bass clefs, so it's the first note most piano methods teach. On an 88-key piano it's the fourth C from the bottom.
Learning to read those notes on the staff as well? Try the note-reading games for treble and bass clef, or learn the guitar fretboard notes if you play both.
The white keys use the letters A to G: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, then C again. The black keys are sharps or flats of the white keys beside them, so the key between C and D is C♯, also called D♭. Those 12 notes (7 white, 5 black) repeat in every octave.
Find a group of two black keys near the middle of the keyboard, usually close to the maker's name. The white key just left of that group is middle C, written C4. On an 88-key piano it's the fourth C from the bottom.
Each black key has two names. Named from the white key below, it's a sharp: C♯, D♯, F♯, G♯, A♯. Named from the white key above, it's a flat: D♭, E♭, G♭, A♭, B♭. C♯ and D♭ are the same key; the name used depends on the key of the music.
E to F and B to C are already a half step apart, the smallest distance on the keyboard, so there's no note between them. Every other pair of neighbouring white keys is a whole step apart with a black key in between. That's what creates the groups of two and three black keys.
A full-size piano has 88 keys: 52 white and 36 black, from A0 to C8. Many digital keyboards have 61 or 76 keys. Note names work the same on all of them because the 12-note pattern repeats.
Use the black-key groups as landmarks instead of counting from A or C. Learn C, D and E around the two black keys first, then F, G, A and B around the three, then the black keys. Short daily practice in both directions, naming keys and finding named notes, builds the link fastest.
Knowing where notes are is half of it. Fifths is an ear-training app that teaches you to hear them: higher or lower, intervals, scale degrees and melodies, in short daily sessions that focus on what you miss.
Try Fifths free →