World 1 · Foundations · 6 minThe keyboard map
White keys, black keys, patterns
Teaching this? Open projector mode
The piano keyboard is the clearest map of pitch ever built: left is low, right is high. The black keys are grouped in twos and threes, and that pattern repeats forever. Find any group of two black keys — the white key just to their left is always C.
From that C, the white keys spell the musical alphabet upward: C D E F G A B, then back to C and around again. Seven letters, then it loops. That is the entire naming system.
Check yourself
Which white key sits just left of a group of TWO black keys?
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