Musical Keyboard Layout

Musical Keyboard layout is made of white and black keys. You may notice group of 2 black keys and group of 3 black keys. Get familiar with the pattern. Number of keys depends on how big is your keyboard.

MUSICAL ALPHABETS: I will give a very easy way to locate the Musical Alphabets. Just find the group of Two black keys. Find the white key, just below the first black key towards the left. You have found the Alphabet ‘C’. After which it is the alphabetical order till G. After, G, it is A, B and C again. Now, it is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. We call them as Musical Alphabets or Musical Notes. You should never forget the sequence. Below gives the Layout, which indicates clearly the musical alphabets.

OCTAVE: Octave is the group of keys from C to B comprising of 12 keys, that is 7 white keys plus the 5 Black keys. The size of musical keyboard is measured in terms of number of octaves. Usually, a standard Keyboard size is 5 octaves.

Musical Scale

Musical Scale can be defined as, a sequence of musical notes arranged in a certain manner.

Now, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, played in sequence gives a musical scale. You can play the same, like Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ne, Sa. You have just played a musical scale. As you started the scale on C, we can name the musical scale as C Major Scale.

How to Play C Major Scale: First step is to know your finger numbers. Your Thumb finger is finger number 1, your Pointing finger is finger number 2, your middle finger is finger number 3, your ring finger is finger number 4 and your little finger is finger number 5. This holds good for both hands, the Right hand and the left hand.

Below the Diagram, to hint the finger numbers to use to play C Major Scale. Try to use the correct fingers and play very slowly.

As you practice, the finger starts falling in place and you will get better and comfortable. Give it some time to develop that muscle memory. Consistent practice, you will play effortlessly without much thinking. Also, try descending Sa, Ne, Da, Pa, Ma, Ga, Re, Sa. You have just started your first step in learning the musical keyboard.