How To Read Piano Notes?

Are you begineer in Piano? No Problem. But first its important that you know how to read piano notes. Playing a song on Piano can be really easy if you have the piano notes for that song with you. Piano notes come in a few different formats, and the Lettered Piano Notes are the best beginner-friendly notations available right out.

That is the reason, all the songs on PianoHindiSongs.com use letter notations for Representing Piano Music.

If you have read any piano notes on our site, you must have noticed that the notations are filled with an awful amount of Letters (A, B, C, D, ….). Those letters represent nothing but the various keys of the piano.

Reading the White Piano Keys

Piano or a Keyboard consists of two kinds of keys. The white keys and the black keys.  Now let us take a look at the following picture to understand better.

As you can see I have named all the white keys, and you can clearly see many white keys have the same name. But let us focus on the central white keys for now (the ones in blue colour).

One complete set of white keys from C to B is called an Octave. And in the world of Piano, the octave starts from C, and not ‘A’ like the Alphabets.

Hold On! An Octave sounds like it must consist of 8 Letters. But the picture suggests that it consists of 7 only. In the world of Music, an Octet comprises of 8 Notes (Do, Re, Mi, Pha, So, La, Ti, Do). If you have ever sung this or heard this, you might have noticed that you start with ‘Do’ and end with ‘Do’. In Indian Music (Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa) is used and follows the exact same principle. Ideally, an Octet on Piano should be from C to C. but if there are two Cs in one octave it would become difficult to denote them. You will soon understand this better. But for all purposes on PianoHindiSongs.com – An Octave would start from C and end on B.

If you have a piano right now. Go Ahead and Play the keys from C to B one by one. Sounds Familiar? Which song was that, Let me know in the comments.

Now that you understood how the white keys are represented, let us take a look at the black keys now.


Reading the Black Piano Keys

Centuries ago, the Gods of Music decided with this world should have only twelve musical notes. But only seven of them got names and were called an Octave. Remaining 5 notes were considered sharper or flatter variations of the 7 Named notes.

The makers of the piano thought it would be easier to differentiate between the natural notes and the remaining 5 notes, if they were given smaller and darker colored keys. If the Black keys were just like the white keys then the piano would be much longer than it already is and difficult to play.

Now that we have History covered and is known the Black keys are sharper or flatter variations of the white keys. Let us take a look at which black key is what?

Now Many of you Must have the Question that what is the difference between ‘#’ and ‘b’? Both are notations which represent a jump or drop in a note.

For Example, C# means the same note as C, only half-step sharper. Cb means — Wait! There is no Cb. Basically, Cb = B. If someone writes that, he basically wants you to play the B Note. But there is a note Eb and it means, Note E half-step flatter.

‘#’ can be pronounced SHARP. ‘b’ can be pronounced FLAT.

Jumping Between Octaves

There are very few songs which can only be played using a single octave. Most songs, require atleast 2. How do we denote a jump between octaves? This is the easiest bit to remember. We use the following signs.

+     = Jump 1 octave
++  = Jumpe 2 octaves
     = Drop 1 Octave
     = Drop by 2 Octaves.

If a Song Notation Reads the Following – C B A D# F# C+ B+. Then it means that the last 2 notes are from the higher octave from where you started.

Choosing the Right Octave to start

Truth be told, you can start from any octave you want. But there is one octave from which the music will sound the best, and this octave varies from song to song. If you have a high pitched song, you may want to pick an octave between center and the right of your piano or keyboard.

Majority of the songs are played from the center most octave on your piano. You can try 3-4 Octaves for one song before you will get an idea about which is the right one. Don’t feel shy about trying one song on different scales. That’s what the music remixers are doing these days.

If you still have any questions regarding how to read piano notes, feel free to ask them in the comments below, and I will be glad to clear any doubts you may have.

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26 Comments

  1. lala usman

    how to jumb and drop the noteplzz tell me

    Reply
  2. Sabiya

    I didn’t understood this jump 1 octave.. jump 2 octave

    Reply
  3. Pari

    Thank you so much

    Reply
  4. Mathew Joseph

    What does an underscore between notes suggest?(_) Is it to repeat previous note?

    Reply
  5. Your Name

    where do

    Reply
  6. Aneree

    I can’t understand the jumps plzz tell me

    Reply
  7. Ruhe

    how to drop an octave

    Reply
  8. Your Name

    ok thanks for information but I know this all information

    Reply
  9. Kartik

    Please tell me in Sa RE GA MA PA DHA Ni SA and in easy way

    Reply
  10. Kartik

    please please tell me in easy way

    Reply
  11. Your Name

    please tell me sa re going ma pa da ni sa yeje wya

    Reply
  12. Your Name

    I can’t understand jumping octave

    Reply
    • admin

      We will add separate tutorial on the jumping octave.

      Reply
  13. Ratan

    very nice explaination

    Reply
  14. Mayur

    I can’t understand jumping and all

    Reply
  15. Yash jain

    How we can convert this into B1c2a3 A4 A5 A6 A7

    Reply
  16. Your Name

    thanks for teaching

    Reply
  17. AYUSH Dwivedi

    i am not understanding that jump ??

    Reply
  18. AYUSH Dwivedi

    I am not understanding that jump

    Reply
  19. Your Name

    its not that easy 😅

    Reply
  20. Your Name

    the notes have G5 A5 I can’t understand it

    Reply
  21. SANSKRUTI

    I still have a question the question is how to understand the numbers like 1,2…. on piano

    Reply
  22. Dimple

    please give me or information about piano

    Reply
    • admin

      Sure we will try our best to include more information regarding how to play piano.

      Reply
  23. Swati bhuriya

    it’s too hard

    Reply
  24. Spriha

    The introduction part was crystal clear and perfect. I understood everything. but could you kindly make a video and show the keys in detail? It will be very helpful. Thank you.

    Reply

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