LESSON 3

The Musical Alphabet (ABCDEFG)
SAMPLE LESSON (complete as it appears within PMMO)

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Naming The White Keys
AUDIO DISCUSSION (1:26)

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Whoever named the keys of a piano was a pure genius! I have no clue who it really was, so for the sake of discussion, I'll call him Adam; Adam the key namer.

Starting at the far left side of a full size piano (88 keys), Adam might have said something like, "I'll call the first white key A, the next white key B, then C, D, E, F, G...".

As the next white key following G was about to be named, Adam noticed something VERY IMPORTANT. The sound of what would have been called H sounded identical to the previous A, except that H had a higher pitch.

Instead of continuing to add more alphabetical letters, Adam decided to repeat the alphabetical sequence with A, then B, C, D, E, F, G... then again ABCDEFG, and again, and again, and again, etc.

Thanks to the musical insight of our genius, Adam, each white key gets its name straight out of the alphabet, and follows alphabetical order!

Illustration 5.
Alphabetical names of tones on the keyboard.

 

 

The musical alphabet is seven (7) letters long (ABCDEFG) and repeats itself as many times as necessary to cover the entire length of ANY keyboard instrument.

Fortunately, the alphabetical name of each white key can ALWAYS be identified by how it appears in relation to the black keys. The black keys form a pattern that makes each white key look unique.

Say the following aloud as many times as it takes to remember it:

"The WHITE key "C" is ALWAYS to the LEFT of the TWO black keys."

 

 

If you can identify just ONE of the white keys, you can locate all the others. (Illustration 6.a. & 6.b.)

 

Because keyboard instruments come in a variety of sizes, the first white key on the far left is NOT always A. It is important to remember, if you can identify just ONE of the white keys, you can locate all the others.

 

 

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

1. The musical alphabet uses only the first seven letters of the English alphabet (ABCDEFG).
2. The keyboard is laid out in ALPHABETICAL ORDER from left to right.
3. The WHITE key "C" is ALWAYS to the LEFT of the TWO black keys.
4. If you can identify just ONE of the white keys, you can locate all the others.

 

 

ASSIGNMENT

Study Illustrations 3, 5, 6.a. and 6.b. Learn to identify the white keys (ABCDEFG) in relation to the pattern created by the black keys, then take the test below.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE TEST (nine questions)