White keys, black keys

Key idea Black keys come in groups of two and groups of three. Use them as landmarks and you never need to count keys.

A full piano has 88 keys: 52 white and 36 black. That sounds like a lot, but it is really one pattern of 12 keys (7 white, 5 black) repeated from left to right.

Moving right goes up: higher sounds. Moving left goes down: lower sounds. The left side is the low register, usually for the left hand. The right side is high, usually for the right hand.