Pitch Names
Different musical traditions and cultures name their pitches differently. In the Western musical tradition, we usually refer to specific pitches or tones with letter names, using the letters A through G. Thus, we have seven letter names to name pitches: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. These letter names are fixed to specific keys on the piano and follow each other in consecutive order, and they correspond to the white keys on a piano keyboard. Starting on any pitch, C for example, you would count up like this: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. When you reach the same letter, you start over again.
Our piano keyboard diagram will help illustrate how this works:
Keys have fixed letter names. Any given key is typically called by the same letter name, although there are some exceptions based on musical context. An easy way to remember the names of keys is to think of the white key between the group of two black keys as the "sandwich" key. That key is referred to as D.
The Octave
Notice that there are two keys labeled C in the above diagram. The second one (in italics) begins another set of eight keys starting with C. There are always eight keys between a letter name and its next occurrence up or down the keyboard. This set of keys is called an octave. (You can easily remember this term because it uses the prefix oct, meaning “eight,” as in octopus and octagon.) When all the notes in the octave are played one after the other in order, they create what is known as a scale.
Now, look below at the diagram of the full piano keyboard. Starting on any C key, count the number of white keys until you find the next C. You may go up (right) or down (left) the keyboard. If you do this correctly, you will find that the next C is eight keys away. The same applies between any D and the next one up or down, and so on with E, F, G, or any other pitch.
There is a very interesting relationship between the sounds of pitches with the same letter name. Take, for example, any C on the full keyboard diagram. The next C to the right will vibrate twice as fast, while the C to the left will vibrate at half the frequency. If the original C vibrates at 256 Hz (remember that Hz = cycles per second), the next one to the right will vibrate at 512 Hz; the prior one to the left will vibrate at 128 Hz.
What does this mean in practical terms? It means that if you go to a piano and play any C (now that you know where they are) and then the next C up or down, you will hear the same sound (after all, they are both Cs); only one octave higher or lower.
Try playing with octaves using the interactive keyboard below. There are three keys marked C. Click on the middle one (which, coincidentally, is called middle C), and listen carefully to the sound. Then, click on the next C to the right, which is an octave above middle C. You will be able to hear the difference in sound between these two notes, which are an octave apart.
The Black Keys
Up until now, we have only looked at the white keys on the keyboard. What about the black ones? Black keys have the same letter names as the white keys, but they are qualified as being either sharp (higher in pitch) or flat (lower in pitch) in relation to the adjacent white key.
The interactive keyboard below shows the name of the black keys on the keyboard. Take, for example, the black key between F and G. That key may be called either F sharp or G flat, depending on the musical context and the intentions of the composer. The sound it produces is the same regardless of how it's named.
Interactive Summary
Play with the interactive animation below to familiarize yourself further with the names and location of notes on the staff and their relation to the keyboard. Remember that there is a one-to-one correlation between every consecutive line and space on the staff and a key on the keyboard.