A key's position determines its pitch, how high or low it sounds. Moving right raises pitch. White keys repeat seven names: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, then C again. The black keys repeat in groups of two and three. C is the white key immediately left of a group of two; F is immediately left of a group of three.
Selected: C4. Moving right raises pitch; moving left lowers it.
The explorer shows one octave of a repeating keyboard pattern. Start by looking at the black keys rather than reading the white-key labels. A pair has a gap after its second black key before the next group begins. The white key just before the pair is C. The white key between the two black keys is D, and the white key just after the pair is E. These three positions give you a local check on any C you think you have found. A C has the pair to its right, not a black key immediately to its left.
Now inspect the group of three. F comes before its first black key. G lies between the first and second, A between the second and third, and B comes after the third. The next white key is C, where a new pair begins. Follow this route in the existing diagram without playing. Naming F by its relationship to three black keys differs from counting four white keys from C. Both routes should lead to the same place, so they can expose a counting error rather than reinforce it.
Select D4 in the explorer, then G4. The dot changes location, but the black-key pattern does not change. For D, look for the pair that encloses it. For G, look for the first gap inside a group of three. The buttons select a drawing, not a sound. Find the corresponding locations on your instrument before pressing either key. This separates a visual recognition problem from a sound-production problem. If you can locate G only by starting again at the left end of the instrument, use the nearby group of three as your next reference instead.
A useful contrast is E beside F. These are neighboring white keys with no black key between them. B beside C has the same physical feature. Most other neighboring white keys have a black key between their narrow back portions. Therefore white-key distance is useful for letter order, but it does not describe every intervening key. For now, do not name the black keys. Use their grouping to identify the white keys, including the two boundaries where the white keys meet without a black key.
From one C to the next C is an octave. They share a letter name but are different pitches. These lessons call middle C C4; the next C to its right is C5. Some keyboards or apps number octaves differently, so use the physical key pattern as well as the label.
You think your keyboard is a Casio CT-S300. That model has 61 keys and touch response, so striking a key faster can make it louder when touch response is enabled. If your model differs, the note patterns still apply. On a standard 61-key C-to-C keyboard with no transpose or octave shift, middle C is the third C from the left. Check the model label before relying on that shortcut.
On both hands, thumb is 1, index 2, middle 3, ring 4, and little finger 5. This does not change with the note you play. For the first right-hand exercises, put 1 on C4, 2 on D4, 3 on E4, 4 on F4, and 5 on G4. Finger numbers are instructions for a passage, not permanent names for keys.
The label C4 contains two pieces of information. C identifies a place in the repeating letter pattern. The 4 identifies which occurrence of that pattern these lessons mean. C5 is farther right and higher in pitch than C4, even though both keys sit before a black-key pair. Selecting the two C buttons in the explorer shows the beginning and end of the displayed octave. The second C is also the beginning of the next octave. It is a shared boundary between two neighboring repetitions, not an extra eighth letter name.
To count the white-key moves from C4 to C5, begin with your finger at C4 but do not count the starting key as a move. Moving to D is the first move, E the second, F the third, G the fourth, A the fifth, B the sixth, and C5 the seventh. There are eight named positions if you include both endpoints. This explains why counting keys and counting moves can produce different numbers without describing different locations. The word octave names the relationship between the two Cs, not a direction to press eight more keys.
Find two Cs on your instrument and play them separately, first the lower and then the higher. Keep your attention on pitch rather than loudness. A softly played high C is still higher than a loudly played low C. If changing touch changes volume, that does not change which letter or octave the key represents. The drawing represents position and pitch labels, not volume. Its marked key does not tell you how loud to play, and selecting a different dot does not ask for a stronger touch.
To locate middle C, combine the physical pattern with the instrument information rather than trusting an unconfirmed model name. On the standard 61-key C-to-C layout described above, count C occurrences from the left to identify the third C. Then check that the key sits immediately before a black-key pair. A keyboard with a different range may put middle C elsewhere relative to its ends. A transpose or octave setting can also change the sound associated with a physical key. The diagram uses the lesson's C4 convention; it cannot inspect your instrument's settings.
Look at the five-note position diagram and read each mark as an assignment. Right-hand thumb 1 is assigned to C4, index 2 to D4, middle 3 to E4, ring 4 to F4, and little finger 5 to G4. The number belongs to the finger, while the letter and octave belong to the pitch. Saying 'finger 4 on F4' keeps these roles distinct. The repeated digit is a coincidence. Finger 4 is not the fourth octave, and F4 does not require finger 4 in every possible passage.
Before playing the five notes, touch the intended E key with the right middle finger and name both parts of the instruction. Then identify F with the ring finger without sounding either note. This checks whether you are reading the displayed assignments or simply counting fingers as a sequence. Beginning on E does not require moving the thumb to E. The hand can stay in the pictured position while finger 3 begins. Later melodies use this distinction, so a starting note should not automatically cause you to reposition the whole hand.
The same numbering applies to the left hand, but the spatial order reverses when both palms face the keys. The left thumb is on the right side of that hand, while the right thumb is on its left side. Consequently a row of pitches that rises toward the right does not imply that finger numbers rise for both hands. The current five-note diagram is explicitly a right-hand assignment. Do not copy its left-to-right numbers onto the left hand and treat them as a universal keyboard labeling system.
Try a silent change of assignment to test the distinction. Keep using the right hand, but place the thumb over F and the index over G, without attempting a whole new exercise or reaching across the old position. The index remains finger 2 even though it now points to G rather than D. Return to the pictured C-through-G position and identify E again. This experiment concerns where the whole hand is placed. It does not ask you to keep C held while reaching toward a new position.
Select an ordinary piano sound. Turn off automatic accompaniment and sustain effects for now; leave transpose and octave shift at their normal zero settings. Use a stable seat and stand. Sit near enough that your elbows can stay loose, with forearms roughly level with the keys and feet supported. Let the fingers curve naturally; keep the wrist near the level of the forearm rather than bent sharply up or down.
Use a comfortable, quiet touch. Do not force a stretch or continue through pain, tingling, or numbness. Stop and adjust; persistent symptoms need professional advice. A page cannot assess your posture or technique.
A key press begins a sound. Keeping the key down allows that note to continue according to the instrument's selected sound. Releasing the key ends your hold, although the sound may have a brief decay. An electronic piano sound may also become quieter while you hold the key. A fading sound does not necessarily mean your finger has released. For this first exploration, look at whether the key remains depressed as well as listening. Do not try to restore a fading sound by pushing farther into a key that is already down.
Play C with the thumb, release it, and then play D with the index. Compare that with deliberately keeping C depressed while pressing D once. The second case has two held keys instead of a single-note succession. This is a comparison of key states, not a request to learn chords yet. Return to one note at a time for the five-note exercise. If an unintended extra pitch appears, inspect whether the previous key stayed down or whether a neighboring finger pressed another key. Those two causes need different corrections.
Next compare holding E once with pressing E twice. For two attacks, the key must return enough to permit another press. Merely keeping the same finger in contact with a depressed key does not create the second note. You do not need to lift the whole hand to repeat it. Watch the E key return between the presses and listen for two starts. No particular speed is required here. The purpose is to connect the instruction 'play the note again' with a release and a fresh key action.
The ascending and descending route in the practice section includes G at the top of both lists. Treat those as two separate G presses when you play both lists as written. One long G and two G attacks are different actions even if the pitch never changes. You have not yet assigned measured durations to them, so do not judge this comparison by a strict count. Check the number of starts and the order of keys. The next lesson will add a regular beat to these already distinct actions.
Suppose you intend to play C, D, E, F, G but hear an unexpected note in the middle. Stop the sequence and locate the key you actually pressed. If it is a white key, identify its nearby black-key group. Then compare that location with the intended letter. If you meant E but pressed F, you crossed the boundary between a pair and a group of three. Checking that local relationship gives more useful information than starting the entire five-note run again without knowing which movement changed.
A different error occurs when every note is one white key higher than intended. The fingers may be following the correct order while the whole hand starts in the wrong place. Compare the thumb's key with the C landmark before changing the individual finger actions. Conversely, if the thumb is correctly on C but only the ring finger sounds the wrong key, inspect that finger's target rather than moving the entire hand. Position errors and individual selection errors can sound similar in a short passage, but the diagram lets you distinguish them.
Finally, check whether the pictured five-note position is comfortable on your actual instrument before using it as a fixed assignment. The drawing cannot show your hand size, seat height, or wrist position. It specifies which notes and fingers the exercise uses, not a hand shape you must force your body to match. If the arrangement is uncomfortable, stop the physical experiment and reassess the setup rather than trying to satisfy the picture through extra effort. A text lesson cannot decide whether a particular movement is suitable for you.
Which white key sits just left of two black keys? Which sits just left of three?
Look to the left of each black-key group, not between its keys.
C is left of a pair; F is left of a group of three. Between C and the next F are D and E. Repeat this in another octave to check that you recognize the pattern rather than a spot on the instrument.
Start on middle C and move right through the white keys. What follows B4, and how does it relate to your starting note?
There are seven letter names before the sequence repeats.
After C4, D4, E4, F4, G4, A4, B4 comes C5. It is one octave above C4. It is not the same physical key, and it sounds higher.
What number is your middle finger? Does finger 3 always mean E?
The middle finger keeps its number when the hand moves.
The middle finger is 3 on either hand. In the initial right-hand position it plays E4. If the hand shifts so the thumb starts on D4 and the fingers follow consecutive white keys, finger 3 rests on F4. A finger number does not identify a pitch by itself.
MusicTheory.net lessons provide further explanations of notation, rhythm, and chords. Open Music Theory is a longer reference. The keyboard diagrams, exercises, and rock-style study here were made for these lessons. The Beethoven example uses a public-domain melody, transposed to C, not a modern published arrangement.
Robert Hutchinson's Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom provides optional explanations of staff notation. Its sections on meter, major-scale construction, inversions, and chord symbols support the corresponding theory explanations. These references do not assess physical technique or certify a playing level.
Casio CT-S300 product information is the reference for the likely instrument. The lessons do not depend on a particular button sequence, USB connection, or automatic accompaniment.