Hear the idea before you study it.
Find C immediately to the left of two black keys, then follow the seven white-note letters. The pattern repeats at every octave.
Part 01
Find your way around the black keys
Look for the repeating clusters of two black keys and three black keys. The white key immediately to the left of a pair of black keys is C. The white key immediately to the left of a group of three black keys is F. These two landmarks work in every octave.
Find three different C keys on a piano. Say C–D–E–F–G–A–B as you move to the right. Then come back down.
04 · Go deeper into find your way around the black keys
Between one C and the next, the white keys are C, D, E, F, G, A and B. After B the alphabet starts again at C. Going right makes notes higher; going left makes them lower.
The black keys usually take their names from neighbouring white keys. The black key between C and D is C♯ (C sharp) or D♭ (D flat). They are the same piano key in standard equal temperament, but the name depends on the musical context.
- Two black keys
- Find C immediately to their left.
- Three black keys
- Find F immediately to their left.
- Sharp (♯)
- One semitone higher than the named note.
- Flat (♭)
- One semitone lower than the named note.
Part 02
A step, a half step and an octave
A semitone (also called a half step) is the distance from one piano key to the very next key, black or white. C to C♯ is one semitone. So are E to F and B to C, even though there is no black key between them.
Find E and F, then B and C. Notice that both are neighbouring white keys one semitone apart.
04 · Go deeper into a step, a half step and an octave
A whole tone is two semitones: C to D or F to G, for example. Those small distances become the building blocks of scales, melodies and chords.
An octave is the distance between two notes with the same letter name, such as C4 and C5. The higher note vibrates at twice the frequency of the lower one; our ears hear them as closely related versions of the same note. Middle C is usually called C4.
- Semitone
- The smallest neighbouring-key step on a typical keyboard.
- Whole tone
- Two semitone steps.
- Octave
- Twelve semitones, from a note to the next note of the same name.
Part 03
Hear the space between notes
The distance from one note to another is called an interval. A melody becomes recognisable partly because of its intervals, not simply its note names. Small steps often feel connected; larger leaps create more contrast.
Play C–E–G together if you have a keyboard. You've just built a C major chord.
04 · Go deeper into hear the space between notes
Try C to E, called a major third. Then C to G, a perfect fifth. You don't need to read notation to recognise the difference: sing the lower note and see whether you can imagine the upper note before it plays.
The goal isn't to memorise every note overnight. Get comfortable finding two or three anchor notes, and let your ear help you with the rest.
Try the ideas for yourself.
Hear a progression, follow the keyboard and make a variation that feels like yours.