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Lesson 3: Pitch Names

This lesson teaches:

• the names of the white-key pitches (also called the natural pitches)
• how to find them on the keyboard

The names of the white-key pitches are the letters A through G:

    A   B   C   D   E   F   G

These 7 letters are reused over and over as we go up/down the pitch range. So, the white keys on a piano are named like this:



Different pitches with the same letter-name sound like higher or lower versions of the same pitch. You should hear this:

1. Click 3 different A's above.
2. Then, click 3 different B's.
3. See if you can hear how the 3 A's sound like "low or high versions of the same pitch", and the same for the 3 B's.

Finding the Pitches on the Keyboard

Let's start with letter A. Here's a keyboard with just the A's labeled:




You can find any A (or any other letter) from its place in the pattern of black keys. To find any A:

1. Find one of the groups of three (not two) black keys.
2. In those three black keys, the white key just to the right of the middle black key is an A.

Next, let's add the B's to the keyboard:



There are two ways to find any B:

1. Using the black keys. B is "just to the right of the 3 black keys".
2. Using another letter that you already know. For example, if you know where A is, then you can say "A, B" while you touch A, then B.

Finally, here's the keyboard with all the letters labeled again:



By looking at this keyboard, we can come up with a "black-key position rule" to find any letter:

• A is "to the right of the middle black key".
• B is "to the right of the 3 black keys".
• C is "to the left of the 2 black keys".
• D is "between the 2 black keys".
• E is "to the right of the 2 black keys".
• F is "to the left of the 3 black keys".
• G is "to the left of the middle black key".

Next:
Practice these pitch names in Lesson 4: Letters Game.