As discussed in [[Music Notation]], we use the term **pitch** to talk about the highness or lowness of a sound. When thinking about music, it is sometimes helpful to visualize pitch using the **piano keyboard**. ## The White Keys In Western music notation, we identify pitches using the first seven letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. After G, the sequence starts over at letter A.[^1] These letters correspond to the white keys on the piano keyboard. This sequence repeats indefinitely in both directions. As we go further left on the keyboard, the pitches sound lower; as we go right, the pitches sound higher. The distance from one key to the next closest key with the same letter name, higher or lower, is an **octave**. **Example 1.** Names of the white keys on the piano. ![[piano keyboard example 1.png]] ## Octave Designation The piano has a total of 88 keys. In order to identify a specific key, we need to include an **octave designation** along with its letter name. The lowest C on the piano is labeled C1. The next highest C is C2 and so on. **Example 2** shows all of the Cs on the piano with their octave designations. The C nearest to the middle of the keyboard, C4, is known as **middle C**. The two white keys below C1 are A0 and B0. **Example 2.** Full piano keyboard with all Cs labeled. ![[piano keyboard example 2.png]] All of the keys from one C up to the next C are said to be in the same octave. Thus, the lowest note in any given octave is a C and the highest a B. In **Example 3** below shows the change in octave registers. The white key above C4 is D4 while the white key below C4 is B3. **Example 3.** Change in octave register. ![[piano keyboard example 3.png]] ## Black Keys Before we can label the black keys, we need to learn about [[Half Steps and Whole Steps]] and [[Accidentals]]. [^1]: This tradition originated in the late tenth century and was first introduced in the northern Italian treatise *Dialogus de musica* (Dialogue on Music). Donald Jay Grout, J. Peter Burkholder, and Claude V. Palisca, *A History of Western Music*, 10th ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 2019), 35.