Musical note name on a piano keyboard

Natural Notes

The white keys on a piano are called the natural notes. Each natural note corresponds to a letter. These letters are called the musical alphabet: C – D – E – F – G – A – B. We use the seven letters alphabet to name the musical notes.

The musical note names of the white keys are: C – D – E – F – G – A – B.

Sharps and Flats

The black keys can be referred to as either sharps or flats. Sharps and flats are also called accidentals. There are five different types of accidentals: natural, sharp, flat, double flat, and double sharp.

Accidentals are symbols used to raise or lower notes by half steps. A half step is the distance between two adjacent keys on the piano.

A Sharp ( ♯ ) is an accidental that raises a note by a half step.
A Flat ( ♭ ) is an accidental that lowers a note by a half step.

A Double Sharp is an accidental that raises a note by a whole step (two half steps).
A Double Flat is an accidental that lowers a note by a whole step (two half steps).

A Natural (♮) is an accidental that cancels out any previous accidentals.

We will learn the musical note names of the black keys in Sharps and Flats – Steps and Accidentals.

The Middle C Note

There are twelve notes in each octave: 7 white keys and 5 black keys. The next octave starts at C again and repeats the note names: D – E – F – G – A – B.

A standard 88-key piano has slightly more than 7 octaves, with 3 notes in the 0 octave and 1 note in the 8th octave.

The Middle C Note on a Piano Keyboard

Let’s locate the middle C note on this 88-key piano keyboard:

The middle C is the 4th C note. The middle C note is a musical note not exactly in the middle, but the closest C to the middle of the piano. Because the middle C is located in the 4th octave, it is sometimes referred to as C4.