Lesson 2 - Good Pianists Study Their Notes

Assuming you have understood and absorbed the piano basics, now would be the perfect time for you to get your hands into musical notations. If you dream of becoming a good, if not excellent, pianist, then be serious and spare some time to learn your piano notes.

Now let’s take a look at the keyboard. As you can see, the black keys, which you find in groups of two and three, are prominent. The middle “C” is located to the left of the group of two black keys and almost behind and beyond the cabinet lock keyhole.

Take note of the spacing of the groups of black keys. Observe that between every two sets of black keys, you get two white keys and that the spacing is the same throughout the keyboard. Also, the sets of three black keys alternate with sets of two black keys. You will, therefore, find --- when counting to the right of the middle “C” --- a set of two blacks followed by two whites and then again a set of three black keys. This pattern is constant to the right as well as the left.

The sets of equally spaced black key sets will help you to identify and locate the white key notes, which are otherwise “faceless.”

To avoid being confused and overwhelmed, just take note that

• to the immediate left of each set of two black keys, you find the key denoted “C”;
• in between and below each two black key set is the note “D”;
• the note “A” is always found between the right-most pair of keys of a set of three black keys;
• if you take the three black key sets, the white key between (and below) the leftmost two keys is the note “G”; and
• the keys are, anyway, named in alphabetical order, and after “G” it is always “A” again.

You know that the white keys produce “major” notes in the musical scale, what are the black keys for then?

The black keys are called the “sharps” and obviously represent the “sharp notes.” They may also denote “flats” at times. When playing on the keyboard, keep these in mind:

• When a black key to the immediate right of a white key (major note) is to be identified, it is called a “sharp” note of the white key. For example, the black key to the right of the middle “C” will be denoted as “C sharp.”

• If the black key is to the left of the major key (white), it will be called a “flat” note of the white key. For example, in the above example, the same “C sharp” note is also called the “flat” note of the major note (white key) “D.” This is because this particular black key is located between two white “major note” keys, so reference can be made to both of them in order to identify.

• In any three black key set, the rightmost is the “B flat.”

Now you know the relevance of the white and black keys of a piano keyboard, you may wonder why you have to master these. You may even say, “I know quite a few guys who play good music by ear.” Well, if you want to show significant progress and play like a pro, you will have to endure learning your notes. Remember that no band playing a musical recording or supporting a professional singer (unless uniquely gifted) will have failed to learn notes.

A question that may pop in your mind is, “why is it not possible to use a standard alphabet to represent a musical composition instead of having to learn a new “language”? At a very basic level, this may be possible. (In fact, certain other schools of music like Hindustani, a Music of India, use a similar system.) But the complexities of modern compositions can be conveniently represented in a simplified manner by following the standard form you are learning now. This also serves as a universal language of music communication among all music practitioners.

We will now touch on the standard method of musical notation. But first, we must get an idea of what “staves” are. Staves refer to two sets of lines, each with five lines drawn parallel to each other. One stave is written above the other, with spacing in between.

The top stave is for the notes above the middle “C,” while the lower stave represents notes below Middle “C.” In playing the piano, the right hand hits the upper stave while the left hand plays the lower stave. The top stave is marked with a “treble clef,” a symbol similar in appearance to the “&” sign. The other stave is marked with the symbol “bass clef.”

Each note on the piano, except the middle “C,” has its own line of space to be noted upon. The middle “C,” on the other hand, is given a special line in between the upper and lower staves.

The musical alphabet moves up the stave from line to space to line, and so on, while progressively increasing in pitch (while moving upwards). However, you may note that each stave has only eleven positions to jot down notations for a total of 23 notes.

So sometimes you find notes below lower “F” above upper B (in the bass clef), and also above upper G and below lower “D” in the treble clef, which are written on special lines.

To remember the location of notes on the staves, there is a trick practiced by beginners across the globe. That is the phrase “Good Boys Don’t Feed Any Central Elephants” where the first letter of the word “good” refers to the lower “G” of the bass clef, and the “C” of the word “central” refers to the middle “C”, and so on.

Also, you would see that the bottom three spaces of the bass clef reads “ACE” while the top four spaces of the treble clef reads “FACE.”

So now that you know how to write down the major notes (white keys), how do you then represent the black keys (sharps or flats)?

A flat note also occupies the same line or space as that of the relevant major note. The notation is identical but with the difference of placing a special symbol, resembling a lower case letter B (b) immediately before the note.

In the case of sharps, the symbol used is #. This is placed immediately before the note, which is identical to the relevant major note.

If either of the symbols if placed on the stave right at the beginning (but after the treble clef or the bass clef symbols, of course), it is called a key signature. This signifies that all notes that follow, though shown as major, should be played on sharp or flat notes, as the case demands.

The numerals you see near the treble and bass clefs denote the number of counts or beats of the tune. Each stave is divided into “bars.” Each bar may generally be divided into 4 segments. The musical note is called a crochet and denotes a beat or count. The beat is represented on the stave as 4/4, for example. The upper 4 signify that there are 4 counts to the bar. The lower 4 denotes that there are 4 quarters in the bar.

The musical note is generally written as an “o” (or a large dot), with a vertical tail drawn either upwards or downwards, the tail being on the right side. This note is called a crochet or a quarter and lasts only one count. The dot is thick black in this case.

If the note is a whole note (instead of being a quarter), it is called a “semibreve” and has 4 counts .The symbol is a bold “o” without a tail. The “minim,” with the “dot” (or the “o”) without any shading at the center, is with two counts to a bar. If it is of 1 count duration, it is called a “crochet.” These symbolize the rhythm of the tune.

In passing it must be said that musical notation, just like playing music, needs significant familiarization. Learning notes is as important as the playing of the instrument itself, especially if you see yourself playing for an audience in the future.