The Musical Alphabet - Natural Notes (White Keys)

Watch the "Learning The Musical Alphabet" video!

Welcome to music theory!  I hope these articles bless you and cause you to succeed in your endeavors to become a gospel musician.  You needn't know anything about music to begin this lesson.  All you need is a piano, organ or keyboard.

The musical alphabet, much like the English alphabet, begins with A. However, it is only 7 letters long ending with G.

The white keys are referred to as the natural notes. Full size pianos (88 keys) start on the left side with A natural. Most smaller keyboards (61 keys) start on the left side with C natural.

1.  Starting with the first note on the left side your keyboard (A for 88-note keyboards/pianos, C for 61-note keyboards), play and say each note name all the way up the keyboard.

2.  Starting with the last note on the right side of your keyboard (C on 61- and 88-note keyboards), play and say each note name all the way down the keyboard.

3.  Play the first note on your keyboard. Then, working your way up the keyboard, play all the other notes on the keyboard with the same note name.

4.  Repeat exercise 3, but start at the top of the keyboard and work downward instead.

5.  Use the Random Note Chart (for Natural Notes) to strengthen your ability to find notes.  Pick a row or column and play the notes listed from left to right or from right to left.  Be creative with the ways you use this chart for finding notes. Play every other row or column. Play every other note. The more creative you are, the more use you will get from it. (This chart is also helpful in practicing chords)

Congratulations!  You are now ready to learn your first scales.  Go learn about sharps & flates once you have learned your notes well.