KEYBOARD LESSONS ONLINE

Basics of Keyboard

Chapter 1 : Keys on a keyboard

From this picture, you can learn how to identify the white keys easily with the help of the black keys.

Take any set of 2 black keys. The white key on the left side of this set is S (Sa), and the white key on the right side of the set is G (Ga). Similarly, we can easily identify M (Ma) and N (Ni), on the left and right sides of the set of 3 black keys.

Note : In Indian music, we have 7 swaras namely Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Da Ni (written as S R G M P D N), and the western equivalents of these notes are C D E F G A B.

Western notes C & E are in the left and right sides of 2 black keys, and F & B are in the left and right sides of 3 black keys.

Chapter 2 : Octaves

An octave in a keyboard/ piano is a set of 12 keys, consisting of 7 white keys (from S to N) and the 5 black keys. The same set of keys/ notes are repeated several times in the keyboard, in order to handle the different frequencies in musical phrases.

A minimum of 3 octaves are required to handle any form of music. The middle of these 3 octaves is called the 'middle octave'. The octave on the left side of middle octave is called 'lower octave' and on the right side we have the 'upper octave'. We use the lower octave keys to play notes with lower frequencies, and higher octave keys to play notes with higher frequencies.

The keys' arrangement is the same across all the octaves in the entire keyboard. Smaller keyboards have 2 to 3 octaves, and bigger keyboards have 5 to 7 octaves. For playing carnatic music, 3 octaves are sufficient, whereas for playing western music, we may require 5 or more octaves, as in this form of music, we use both the hands. The right hand is used to play melody and the left hand for playing chords.

In our method of notation writing,

Middle Octave Notes are written in "Capital letters" - S R G M P D N

Lower Octave Notes in "Small case letters" - s r g m p d n

Upper Octave Notes are written in Capital letters with a single quote - S' R' G' M' P' D' N'

Note : In our initial song notations, we have written the notes for black keys in BOLD letters.

In between the 7 white keys, we have 5 black keys. They are another variation of R, G, M, D and N.

S - 1 (white key)
P - 1 (white key)
R - 2 (a white and a black)
G - 2 (a white and a black)
M - 2 (a white and a black)
D - 2 (a white and a black)
N - 2 (a white and a black)

Total 12 keys

Note : These octaves are similar in carnatic and western music.

In a 7 octaves keyboard/ piano/ digital piano, White keys = 52; Black keys = 36; Total keys = 88

Out of the 7 octaves, 4th is the middle octave [ 1 2 3 "4" 5 6 7 ]

These numbers are also called as registers in a Piano. Middle C is called so, because it is in the middle of the Piano. Note A in the Middle Octave is 440.0 Hz in Frequency. Also called as the Standard Tuning, Internationally.

Chapter 3 : Swara Names

Carnatic Swaras :

In Carnatic music, the white keys are S R G M P D N and black keys are R G M D N. We have one S, one P, and 2 variants of R G M D & N. Totally we can say, there are 12 swaras at this level.

S - stands for Shadjam
R - Rishabam
G - Gandharam
M - Madhyamam
P - Panchamam
D - Dhaivatham
N - Nishadham

Note : The above swara names are for beginners. Notes can be remembered as white/ black keys, eg., 'R' black, 'G' white, 'M' black and so on.. We have more variations in Carnatic Music as given below :

Click on the above image to access the Virtual Piano-Carnatic, and listen to the sounds of swaras. There are physically 12 keys/sounds, but 4 keys represent 2 swaras each, in different contexts. Hence theoritically, there are 16 swaras.

The 16 swara names in Carnatic are as below :

S  - Shadjam
R1- Suddha Rishabam
R2- Chatusruthi Rishabam
R3- Shatsruthi Rishabam
G1- Suddha Gandharam
G2- Sadharana Gandharam
G3- Anthara Gandharam
M1- Suddha Madhyamam
M2- Prathi Madhyamam
P  - Panchamam
D1- Suddha Dhaivatham
D2- Chatusruthi Dhaivatham
D3- Shatsruthi Dhaivatham
N1- Suddha nishadham
N2- Kaisika Nishadham
N3- Kakali Nishadham

Western Equivalents : We have give below the Western note names. In Western Music, the 5 black keys are used as flats/ or sharps in different contexts, and hence the total number of note names is 17. Sharp notes are represented by a '#' symbol, and flats notes by a small case 'b', both as superscripts. Eg., C# is the black key on the right side of C and Eb is the black key on the left side of E. Click on the below image to access the Virtual Piano-Western and listen to the note sounds.

Chapter 4 : Keyboard Fingering

Fingering is very vital for playing any musical instrument. Usage of fingers should be planned logically in order to attain high speed levels of playing the instrument. In those days, there were nobody to teach the musical instruments, and learners took many many years to overcome the issues in fingering. Nowadays, we teach the entire logic within a few months/ or a few years to students, and this is the highest advantage of present day learning.

Standard Fingering :

Fingers 1 to 4 play major role, and the 5th finger is used occasionally. We should use fingers 1, 2, 3, 4 to play S, R, G, M and the same order is used to play P, D, N, S' also. While shifting the fingers from M to P, thumb should be moved below the ring finger and while coming back in the reverse direction, ring finger should be moved above the thumb.
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Chapter 5 : Timing Basics

Timing is an important element of music, which is the common factor connecting many instruments when played together, like in an orchestra. Swaras/ notes have specific length, and they are placed on the rhythm prefectly. Rhythm is meant for maintaining the timing and the cycles. Every song is composed for a particular cycle, called the 'time signature' (a particular thala in carnatic). While learning music, we play the melody/ notes with click sounds called the metronome.

There is a manual instrument called 'Metronome' which plays 'click' sounds in perfect time intervals, and it can be set for various time signatures. Nowadays we have a lot of online metronomes and mobile Apps, with which we can understand the timing in music perfectly.

Pro Metronome is a very popular metronome App (Android as well as IOS versions are available). We will discuss more on the metromone in a separate chapter.

Chapter 6 : Sruthi

In carnatic, there is a saying 'Sruthi' matha and 'layam' pitha. It means 'sruthi' is the mother and 'layam' is the father of music, without which there can be no music. Sruthi is the swara or note, based on which all the other notes of the melody are built.

In carnatic the sound of 'Sa' is the sruthi of the song or melody. During music concerts, the vocalist chosses the sruthi, based on his voice range, and all the other musical instruments are tuned to this sruthi. We will discuss more on this in a separate chapter.