Note Names

The piano, like most western instruments, uses a repeating set of twelve notes.
They are labeled using the letters A through G. The pitch of a note is altered
either by adding a sharp (#) symbol, which raises the note one half step, or a flat
(♭) symbol, which lowers the note one half step. Most notes can be written
multiple ways by using different combinations of these symbols. For example, F#
and Gb are different ways to spell the same note, because going up one key from
F takes you to the same place as going down one key from G. Musical context will
determine which spelling is appropriate.
The notes on the keyboard which can be written without a sharp or flat symbol –
A, B, C, and so on, are also sometimes referred to as “natural” notes. For example,
C sharp (which could also be called D flat) is one half step above C natural, which
is one half step above C flat (usually called B). The natural notes occupy the white
keys on a piano.

The distance between notes is measured with the basic unit “tones”. A single key
on the piano is equal to a semitone, or halftone, while two keys is equal to a
whole tone. For example, the notes E and F are a semitone apart, because they
are only one key away on the piano, but the notes E and F# are a whole tone
apart. A and B are a whole tone apart, because there is a black key (A#/Bb)
separating them. Notice that the two pairs of white keys which form a halftone
are B+C and E+F.
Another common unit of distance is the octave, which refers to the point at which
note labels repeat. For example, in this figure, the leftmost C note is an octave
below the C note in the middle of the image. Although they are at different
pitches, both notes are C. To differentiate between the two, musicians use octave
numbers. The C in the middle of a grand piano is referred to as C4 or “middle C”,
with lower or higher numbers used to refer to other octaves. Patterns you learn in
one octave will transfer to any octave on the piano, just at a higher or lower pitch.
Most keyboards will have 5 to 7 octaves of range to allow you to play wide
chords.