Basics of Keyboard/ Piano


In this handbook, we have given all the basics for learning keyboard/ piano step by step. Most of the contents are prepared based on Carnatic Music on the keyboard. Anyhow we have given Western Music equivalents in some instances. Please read the chapters in the same order, so that you can understand every concept clearly.
  • Chapter 1 : Keys on a keyboard
  • Chapter 2 : Octaves
  • Chapter 3 : Swara Names
  • Chapter 4 : Keyboard Fingering
Chapter 1 : Keys on a keyboard
This is how keys are arranged on a keyboard/ piano/ harmonium/ or any reed instrument. You may see groups of 2 black keys, and 3 black keys placed alternately. This is the main reference used for identifying the keys/notes easily.

From this video, 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.

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

How many C to B's are there? 7. C to B is an octave. How many octaves are there? 7

Which 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
Basic Swaras
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 : At advanced levels of learning, we will be adding some more variations in the swaras.

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