LESSON 1.4. The musical alphabet

LEVEL 1: Introduction to Music Notation and The Virtual Piano

LESSON 1.4. The musical alphabet

The musical alphabet consists of the first seven letters of the alphabet: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. These letters are used to represent the natural notes on the piano keyboard. Starting with C, move up the white keys in alphabetical order. After reaching B, the pattern repeats with C.

octave

An image showing the musical alphabet with the letters
C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C.

octave-2

An image showing the musical alphabet with the letters
C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C
and the corresponding keys on Virtual Piano.

Applying the Musical Alphabet to Virtual Piano:

As we delve deeper into Virtual Piano, it's crucial to grasp how the musical alphabet is represented on the digital keyboard. In the physical world, the piano's keys are laid out linearly, with each octave containing 7 natural notes (C, D, E, F, G, A, B). Virtual Piano replicates this layout, assigning each natural note to a specific key on your computer keyboard.

Consider the range from C4 to B4, which contains 7 notes (C, D, E, F, G, A, B), known as a natural scale. On the Virtual Piano, starting with the 't' key for C4, you press each key to the right sequentially (t, y, u, i, o, p) to play the ascending notes. When you reach B4, due to the layout of computer keyboards, you will need to move to the next line down on your computer keyboard and start from the first key in that line, which is the 'a' key, to continue playing the scale.

This one-to-one correspondence between the musical notes and the computer keys is designed to facilitate an intuitive learning experience. By recognizing this pattern, you can understand how to navigate the octave on your keyboard, simulating the transition from one octave to another on a traditional piano.

Here's an enhanced explanation to include with the table:

NOTE QWERTY MOVEMENT NOTE QWERTY MOVEMENT
C4tStartC5sRight
D4yRightD5dRight
E4uRightE5fRight
F4iRightF5gRight
G4oRightG5hRight
A4pRightA5jRight
B4aDownB5kRight
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