4.2: The Music Alphabet and the Piano Keyboard

A grand staff with lines and spaces labeled with pitch names.

The musical ‘alphabet’ works the same way on the piano as on the notational staves. On the piano keyboard, there are a total of 88 keys. Unlike the diagrams above and below, on a real piano “A” is the very lowest note on the left side. If you start saying the musical alphabet there, you’ll notice that “A” falls in the middle of the set of three black keys every time. The same type of repetitive pattern is true of every note with the highest note on the piano being a C.

A piano keyboard with letter names of keys labeled.

The black keys are the half steps. A sharp (♯) in front of a note tells you to play it up a step higher (the key to the right). You may also notice that the sharped note is not always a black key—there is no black key to the right of “E” or “B” so E♯ = F and B♯ – C. Flats (♭) merely are the opposite; they tell you to play a half step lower (one key to the left). You’ve got it—D♯ is the same note as E♭.

Major and Minor Scales

Scales are a basic component and the tonal basis of music. They are an organized series of seven distinct notes with a repeated note at the octave (diatonic) consisting of a pattern of half steps and whole steps.The most common and basic are the major and minor scales.

Major scales are some of the most commonly used musical scales. They are diatonic, meaning they include the seven ‘natural’ pitches arranged by five whole steps and two half steps for each octave. The sequence for a major scale is: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. The most basic major scale to see as an example is the C Major scale.

Whole and Half Steps in C Major Scale

A major scale can start on any note. If we start on D♭ instead of C, the pattern whole and half steps need to remain the same, so we must alter some notes. The same pattern of whole and half steps beginning on D♭ is: D♭ E♭ F G♭ Ab B♭ C D♭.

Natural minor scales are similar to Major scales in that they are diatonic with seven unique tones and a repeated octave and made up of patterns of half and whole steps, but the pattern is different. The sequence for a minor scale is:

The most basic natural minor scale is the a natural minor scale which has no sharps or flats. Here are the C Major and a minor scales.

These two scales would be labeled as relative, meaning they have the same sharps and flats. C Major’s relative minor is a. There are also parallel minor scales which have the same starting note but different sharps and flats due to the patterns of whole and half steps. For example, C minor, would be the parallel minor of C major. The c minor scale = C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C. The natural minor scale can also be represented by the notation: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7 8.

The harmonic minor scale is similar to the natural minor, except that the seventh degree is raised by one half step, making a larger interval (augmented 2nd) between the sixth and seventh scale degrees. The sequence for harmonic minor is whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole+half, half.

The melodic minor scale is the only scale that is different ascending and descending. Ascending it is similar to the Major scale except the melodic minor has a lowered 3rd scale degree. Descending, the melodic minor is the same as the natural minor. The sequence for ascending melodic minor is whole, half, whole, whole, whole, whole, half. The sequence for descending melodic minor is whole, whole, half, whole,whole, half, whole. The ascending melodic minor scale can be notated as: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 8, while the descending is: 8 ♭7 ♭6 5 4 ♭3 2 1.

Key Signatures

The sharps and flats placed at the beginning of a piece, between the clef and the time signature, is called the key signature. This indicates the tonal center or keynote/cornerstone of the piece. (Sometimes, you can cheat and just look at the first and last notes too.) The key signature is used so that every sharp or flat in the composition doesn’t have to be marked. The sharps or flats at the beginning of a piece always appear in the same order.

When you look at the key signature and you have one sharp at the beginning, it’s always going to be F♯. If you have two sharps, they will always be F♯ and C♯. These are five notes or an interval of a fifth apart. (Just count to five: FGABC).

The interval of a fifth can also be used to help you identify and name key signatures. For example, the key of C Major has no flats or sharps. The key of G Major has one sharp (F♯). C to G is a fifth apart or five notes (CDEFG). The same applies to minor key signatures, a minor has no flats or sharps, and e minor has
one sharp (F♯). When you lay these all out in a circle, it is called the Circle of Fifths and can be seen below.

Circle of Fifths, Treble Clef

Circle of Fifths, Bass Clef

If you can’t remember the major key from the sharps in the key signature, you can go up a half step from the last sharp in the key signature. For example: If there are 2 sharps in the key signature they would be F♯ and C♯ which would make it the key of D Major. (If you’re familiar with solfège, the last sharp is “ti” to the keynote “do.”) In minor, the key is one who step below the last sharp. For example, if you have 2 sharps, F♯ and C♯, they will be b minor.

Flats work a little differently. For Major keys, you move back one space on the Circle of Fifths or use the next to last flat. If you are familiar with solfège, the last flat to the right is “fa” to the keynote “do.” If you have three flats, they will always be B♭, E♭, and A♭, and you are in the key of E♭ Major. Another way to remember this is, if you begin on D♭ and play a major scale (WWHWWWH), you will have flatted BEAD and G in the process. For minor keys, there isn’t an easy shortcut other than memorization. The one method that will work is to look at the last flat and the key will be a Major third above this pitch. For example, if you have two flats, B♭ and E♭, you will be in the key of g minor. G is an interval of a Major 3rd above E♭—G,A,B♭.

Intervals

In music, an interval is the distance between two pitches. The first step in naming the interval is to find the distance between the notes as they are written on the staff. Start with the line or space the original notes is on, and then count every line and every space up to and including the second note. This gives you the number for the interval. The example in the treble clef example below is the interval from a B to D. To determine this, you simply count B, C, D—which is a third because there are three notes. The bass clef example below is an A to an F. You count, A, B, C, D, E, F—which is a sixth.

The smallest interval possible is a half-step. This is the next higher or lower note. For example, a half step above an A is an A♯; a half step below an A is an A♭. A half step above a B, is a C. A half step below a G♭, is an F.

A 2nd, is also known as a whole step (or two half steps).

An interval that has two of the same note is called a unison.