What are the Black Keys on the Piano? Read on to find out!

Introduction

Many of you might ask “what are the black keys on the piano?” if you’re still a beginner when it comes down to learning the piano. In this article, we give you a basic introduction as to what the black keys are, what they do and how are they used in any piano piece.

How Many Black Keys Does A Piano Have?

That depends on how many octaves or a total number of keys a piano has. One octave has the following layout:

When you repeat that octave many times throughout the piano, you get a whole playing keyboard piano at hand. Here is a comparative chart to help you know how many black keys a piano, which depends on the number of keys and octaves:

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So basically, there is no definite number of black keys, but if you own a standard 88-key keyboard, you will have 36 black keys in total. Meanwhile, if you have a 49-key keyboard or piano that’s much smaller, you may only get 20 black keys in total.

Names Of The Black Keys On A Keyboard

As we’ve mentioned above, here’s what you call the black keys on an octave of any standard piano or keyboard:

To help you identify the black keys on the keyboard, here’s a simple technique that you can use:

The Chopstick

This is the part of the black keys that are made up of C# and D#. They look like chopsticks because they are only two and a pair across your keyboard or piano. If you have trouble finding the key of C, you can just find the chopstick on the piano keyboard. They are the following:

The Fork

The fork is basically the trio of black keys that are bundled together like the chopstick but are made up of the keys F#, G#, and A#. They are the following:

What Are The Black Keys On A Keyboard Called?

Basically, the black keys on the keyboard are either called sharps or flats. This can be confusing to beginners, so here is a helpful chart to help you get acquainted as to why the black keys are called such for their sharps and flat names:

Sharps and flats are basically “half-step” notes of the natural notes, which are the white keys. To explain the chart above, we define the sharps and the flats and how to read them:

Sharps (#)

A black key in a piano/keyboard is called a sharp when it is the right of the key. In the given example, since the first black key is in between C and D (white keys), that black key will be called the C# because it is to the right of the C key.

Flats (b)

A black key is called a flat when it is to the left of a key. In the given example, since the first black key is in between C and D (white keys), that black key will be also called the Db because it is to the left of the D key.

Use this same process to go through each and every black key on the piano, and you’ll be able to memorize all of the black key names in no time! You don’t have to worry whether you want to use sharps (#) or flats (b) to call them out – they are basically one and the same!

What are the Black Keys used for?

The black keys aren’t usually a set of keys that beginner pieces are made of. However, they can be used for the following:

1. They are used in other key families. For example, if you need to play a song in the key of G or D, you will surely have to press one or two of the black keys in order to play the chord of the same key family! You will learn about this when you learn about the other chords aside from the basic chord of C, which only uses all the white keys.
2. They can be used for adding a dramatic effect. This is also explained much later when you’re in the advanced lessons. Notice how some jazz music players seem to be off-tune but they’re actually making it sound good? They are using a technique with black keys to make the half step look like it’s part of the chords even though they’re technically not, and the result is a dramatic effect.

Why are Black Keys Black?

To answer that question, we bring you a trivia: were black keys always black before? Actually, no. Black and white on the keys were originally reversed. So what was the problem?

The main problem is that when all of the bottom keys are black, you can’t easily see the black space between them!

The solution was basically to reverse the black and the white colors of the modern keyboard, so it will be easier to tell apart the white keys or the natural keys from each other because they’re all white!

Conclusion

The black keys on the piano may be too complicated for beginners at first, but there’s nothing you can’t learn if you’re determined! We hope that this mini-guide about the black keys will help you read and memorize them properly for your next piano practice!