When you start learning piano, it is beneficial to understand the basic concepts of music theory first. You already know that the piano is an instrument used to play notes, scales, and chords. But the question is: What are notes, scales, and chords?
Every beginner should be briefly introduced to these concepts so that they can easily and quickly learn to play. This beginner’s guide will help you understand the concepts and utilize them effectively while playing the piano. Theory always helps in polishing the practical, and thus, this guide will help you play the piano better.
What Is A Musical Note?
The note is the name given to the sound created by a set frequency of vibrations for a specific duration. Musical notes are the symbols that denote specific sounds in music. You can also refer to a note as the basic unit of a music piece. When you read sheet music, the symbols on the lines and spaces represent musical notes along with their duration and pitch. Fundamentally, there are seven natural notes – A B C D E F G. And to create a little variation in the pitch we have sharps (#) and flats (b) – A#/Bb, Cb (B), B# (C), C#/Db, D#/Eb, Fb (E), E#(F), F# /Gb, G#/Ab.
There are fourteen sharps and flats spread over nine piano keys. You may notice that some of the keys have two names. For example, the black key after C is both C# and Db. This is because the key on the right of C will play a higher pitch than C (that is C#) and a lower pitch than D (that is Db). The pitch is the same for both, but the names are different due to the variation they cause. Sharps and flats indicate that you have to play the key one semitone (distance between two consecutive piano keys) right or left respectively.
How To Play Them?
Each piano key represents a musical note. If you want to play a note, all you have to do is play the piano. A well-tuned piano will create pleasant sounds even when you are playing for the first time. All the black keys represent the sharps and flats while the white keys are labelled the natural notes. B, C, E, and F are a few of the exceptions of white keys that are also sharps and flats.
How Are They Arranged On A Piano?
There are eighty-eight piano keys and twelve (seven natural, plus five sharps and flats) notes to arrange. All the notes are settled on the piano keyboard in groups named as octaves. All twelve notes repeat themselves on the piano key in the form of octaves. An octave is the distance between the first note and its repetition after the seventh natural note – that is, the distance between A (B C D E F G) A.
There are seven octaves on a piano, each portraying variant frequencies. When you look at your piano keyboard, you will find it difficult to locate any specific octave, which is why we associate numbers to each octave. The first note on the piano is A0 because it belongs to the 0 Octave. Whereas the last note is C8.
You already know that specific frequency is allotted to each note, but did you know that the multiples of those frequencies also represent the same note? This would be confusing if octaves did not exist. You know that there are seven octaves with different frequencies on a keyboard. The standard frequency of middle A on your keyboard (A4) is considered 440Hz and if a key creates the frequency of 880Hz, then it is the same note but on the next octave (A5).
A piano keyboard uses the same twelve notes, arranges them in different octaves, and allows you to play both high notes and low notes.
What Is A Musical Scale?
A musical scale is the series of notes arranged in ascending or descending order of their pitch. Scales are formed to recognize the delightful groups of notes that sound pleasant when played in order. Scales follow a pattern to arrange the notes to create a nice melody.
In more technical terms, you can describe a scale as the measure that divides an octave using different scale steps. A scale step is the difference between two notes on a scale.
Types Of Scales
There are two basic kinds of scales – major and minor. Both scales are differentiated based on the pattern they follow in organizing the notes. Both of them employ different scale steps to form a melodious scale. There are two types of scale steps – whole and half. The half step, also known as a semitone, is the difference between consecutive piano keys while the whole step or tone is the distance between the piano keys that have one key in between. Half step + half step = whole step.
Major Scales
The notes are organized in the recurring pattern: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. For example, C major scale: C, (whole-step) D, (whole-step) E, (half step) F, (whole-step) G, (whole-step) A, (whole-step) B, (half step) C.
Minor Scale
The recurring pattern used is: tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone. For example, C minor: C, (whole-step) D, (half step) Eb, (whole-step) F, (whole-step) G, (half step) Ab, (whole-step) Bb, (whole-step) C.
What Is a Musical Chord?
A musical chord is a group of complementing notes that are played simultaneously. The notes are arranged in a chord to create a delightful overlapping effect. When you play a chord, different notes overlap and complement each other. Musical chords are generally played as an accompaniment to support the melody. While scales are arranged horizontally in sheet music, the chords are organized vertically.
The basic piano chords are the triad, which contains three notes. To play a triad, you have to press three piano keys simultaneously. You can further break the piano chords into major chords and minor chords. All the triads contain a root, a third, and a fifth. The main difference between a major and minor chord is the third. Major chords sound mirthful while minor chords sound gloomy, just because of the third.
How To Form Chords?
Major Chords
The root note is the note mentioned in the name of the chord; for example, for E major, the root note is E. The third and the root note have four semitones between them. Thus, when E is the root: (half step) F, (half step) F#, (half step) G, (half step) G#, which means in E, major the third is G#. Next comes the fifth, which is three semitones far from the third. In this case, G#, A, B. B is the fifth in E major chord. Thus, the semitone formula for major chords is: root + 4 semitone = third and third + 3 semitone = fifth.
Minor Chords
In minor chords, the formula changes to Root + 3 semitone = third, and third + 4 semitones = fifth, which means only the third changes in the minor chord. For example, the notes in E minor (Em) chord are E, (G# – semitone) G, B.
There are more complicated chords containing four or more notes. For a beginner, the basic chords should suffice.
These were the basic concepts of music explained briefly to introduce you to the musical world. Now you know the N, S, C of the piano so you can start learning piano more effectively. Now, when you play a piece of music, you will understand how it works and will be able to play better. Practice piano based on these concepts, and when you feel you are ready, you can learn about them in more depth and gain advanced knowledge to develop advanced skills.
