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Piano Basics

For someone who has never touched a piano. Nine short chapters, one small step at a time, with keys to press and hear in every one.

Each chapter takes about ten minutes. Read a little, then try it on the keys: on a real piano or keyboard if you have one, or right here on the screen. You don’t need to read music yet. That comes next, in Reading Music.

Your progress stays in this browser, and a check mark shows each chapter you’ve finished.

The chapters

  1. Chapter 1: Meet the KeyboardLow notes and high notes, white keys and black keys, and the groups of two and three black keys that work as your map.
  2. Chapter 2: Finding C and the Musical AlphabetFind every C with the black keys as your guide, learn the seven letter names of the white keys, and meet octaves and middle C.
  3. Chapter 3: Sitting and Hand ShapeWhere to sit, how high and how far away, and the relaxed, curved hand shape that makes playing feel easy.
  4. Chapter 4: Finger NumbersThumb is 1, little finger is 5, on both hands. Learn the numbers that music uses to tell you which finger plays which note.
  5. Chapter 5: The C PositionFive fingers on five white keys: where each hand goes in C position, how to keep it still, and your first notes with both hands. Then G position.
  6. Chapter 6: Your First Notes: Steps and SkipsMelodies move by steps (to the very next key), skips (over one key) and repeats. Play them, hear them, and see them on the page.
  7. Chapter 7: Black Keys: Sharps and FlatsEvery black key has two names. Learn what sharp and flat mean, and the half steps and whole steps that every scale is built from.
  8. Chapter 8: The PedalsWhat the right, left and middle pedals do on a grand piano, an upright and a digital piano, and how to use the sustain pedal lightly.
  9. Chapter 9: How to Practice, and Your First TunesShort daily sessions, slow first, hands separately then together, and the metronome. Then play your first songs with the notes lit up.

Next, learn to read the notes on the page, so you can play any song from its sheet music. Reading Music →

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