Piano keys and note names: a map of the keyboard

Updated 2026-10-20 · 7 min read

The white keys on a piano are named with seven letters, A B C D E F G, repeating from left to right. The black keys come in groups of two and three, and they're your map: C is the white key just left of every group of two black keys, and middle C is the C nearest the middle of the keyboard. A standard piano has 88 keys, 52 white and 36 black, from A0 at the bottom to C8 at the top.

That's most of it. Below is the rest: how to find every key, what the black keys are called, how octaves are numbered, finger numbers, and the do-re-mi names used in much of the world.

The black keys: groups of two and three

Look at a keyboard and the black keys aren't evenly spaced. They alternate between a group of two and a group of three, all the way up. Every white key can be found from those groups, so you never have to count from the end of the keyboard.

Try it now: play every group of two black keys from the bottom of the piano to the top, then every group of three. With the sustain pedal down it already sounds like music, which is why PianoKite's first lesson is a black-key jam.

The white keys: seven letters

Music uses the first seven letters of the alphabet. Going up (to the right), they run C D E F G A B, then start again at C. Here's how to find each one:

A quick way to fix them: C and F are both on the left edge of a group (two for C, three for F), and E and B are both on the right edge. D, G and A are inside the groups.

The black keys: sharps and flats

Each black key is named after a white key next to it. Named from the key on its left, it's a sharp (♯), "a little higher than". Named from the key on its right, it's a flat (♭), "a little lower than". So every black key has two names:

Two names for the same key are called enharmonic equivalents. Which name a piece uses depends on its key: in G major the black key between F and G is written F♯; in a flat key such as D♭ major it's G♭. It's the same key on the piano either way.

Half steps, whole steps, and the missing black keys

The distance from any key to the very next key, black or white, is a half step (a semitone in British usage). Two half steps make a whole step (a tone). There's no black key between E and F, or between B and C, so those white keys are only a half step apart. That's also why E♯ is the same key as F, and B♯ the same as C. You'll rarely see those names early on, but they exist.

Octaves: why the letters repeat

From one C to the next C is an octave: 12 keys, 7 white and 5 black. The C an octave higher sounds like the same note, only higher, because its pitch vibrates exactly twice as fast. That's why the two Cs share a name, and why a melody played an octave up is still the same melody.

An 88-key piano covers a little over seven octaves, so every letter name appears seven or eight times.

Where is middle C on a piano?

Middle C is the C closest to the middle of the keyboard. On an 88-key piano it's the fourth C from the left, often roughly in front of the brand name. On a 61-key keyboard it's usually the third C from the left.

Middle C matters because it's the meeting point of the two hands and of the two staves in piano music: it sits on a ledger line between the treble and bass clefs (see how to read piano sheet music). Most beginner courses start with your right thumb on it.

Octave numbers: C4, A0 and C8

To say exactly which C you mean, musicians add an octave number: scientific pitch notation. Each octave starts on C, and middle C is C4. The D just above it is D4, the B just below it is B3.

One warning: not all software and keyboards agree on the octave numbers, and some label middle C as C3. MIDI note 60 is middle C either way. PianoKite uses C4, as this site does.

How many keys does a piano have?

A standard modern piano has 88 keys: 52 white and 36 black, from A0 to C8. Almost every digital piano copies that layout. Some older pianos have 85 keys (A0 to A7), and a few concert grands go further: the Bösendorfer Imperial adds nine extra bass keys for 97 in total (Wikipedia has the details).

Portable keyboards often have 61 or 76 keys, sometimes fewer. That's enough for most beginner music, which rarely leaves the middle few octaves. Later pieces use more of the range, which is one reason an 88-key digital piano is the usual recommendation once you know you'll keep playing (see learning piano as an adult for what to look for).

Finger numbers

Piano music numbers your fingers 1 to 5 on each hand, starting from the thumb: 1 thumb, 2 index, 3 middle, 4 ring, 5 little finger. Both hands use the same numbers, which means they run in opposite directions on the keyboard.

In the five-finger C position, the right hand puts 1 on middle C and 2, 3, 4 and 5 on D, E, F and G. The left hand, an octave lower, puts 5 on C3 and its thumb on G3. Fingering numbers in a score are printed above or below the notes, and following them early saves a lot of relearning later.

Do, re, mi: solfège note names

In much of the world, notes aren't called by letters but by solfège syllables. In France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, Russia and many other countries, C is do, D is re, and so on. This is called fixed do: do is always C.

English-speaking countries often use ti instead of si, and more often use the syllables in movable do, where do is the first note of whatever key you're in (in G major, do is G). For naming piano keys, fixed do and letters are the two systems you'll meet.

PianoKite follows the convention of the language it's set to: in Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Korean the keys and notes show solfège names (Do, До, ド, 도), while English and Chinese use letters.

How to learn the keys quickly

• Find all of one note. Play every C on the piano, bottom to top. Then every F. Then every E. Five minutes a day for a week and you'll stop counting.
• Say the names out loud as you play a five-finger pattern: C D E F G, G F E D C.
• Jump between landmarks. Middle C, the C an octave up, the G above middle C, the F below it. These are the same landmarks you'll use for reading music.
• Use the black-key groups, not the edge. If you find yourself counting from the left end, stop and find the nearest group of two or three instead.

The first unit of PianoKite's beginner lessons, Hello, Piano, covers exactly this: finding your way around the keys, middle C, finger numbers and the C position, ending with your first tunes. It's free, and it works with a digital piano, an acoustic piano through the microphone, or the keys on your screen.