Piano · keyboard layout
Piano Keys Labeled
The whole keyboard, labeled and interactive: count the keys, see how white and black keys are arranged, and zoom in on any octave.
A full-size piano has 88 keys: 52 white and 36 black.
They run from A0 at the far left to C8 at the far right — seven full octaves plus a minor third. The same group of 12 keys (7 white, 5 black) repeats all the way up, so once you can read one octave you can read the whole instrument.
- 88 keys
- 52 white
- 36 black
- A0–C8 range
- 7¼ octaves
88 keys · 52 white · 36 black · A0–C8Click a key, then play with A–J and W–U; arrows move one key.
- Note name: C4
- Octave: 4 — this is middle C, C4
- Pitch: 261.63 Hz · MIDI 60
Looking for what each key is called rather than how many there are? Piano note names, octaves and enharmonics live here — and the same keyboard shows every major and minor chord.
Piano and keyboard sizes: how many keys each one has
88 is the full-size standard, and it is what “a piano” means unless someone says otherwise. Portable keyboards cut keys off the ends rather than changing the pattern, so a 61-key board is a full-size keyboard with the extreme bass and treble removed — the middle of the instrument, where nearly all music sits, is identical.
| Keys | Range | Octaves | White | Black | Where you find it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | A0–C8 | 7 octaves + a minor 3rd | 52 | 36 | Grand pianos, uprights and full-size digital pianos |
| 76 | E1–G7 | 6 octaves + a minor 3rd | 45 | 31 | Larger portable keyboards and stage pianos |
| 61 | C2–C7 | 5 octaves | 36 | 25 | The standard keyboard and MIDI controller size |
| 54 | C2–F6 | 4 octaves + a 4th | 32 | 22 | Compact home keyboards |
| 49 | C2–C6 | 4 octaves | 29 | 20 | Small MIDI controllers and mini keyboards |
Only the 88-key range is truly fixed; smaller boards vary a little between makers, and the ranges above are the most common. What never changes is the pattern — 12 keys per octave, seven white and five black. Use the Keys control on the chart above to switch the diagram between 88, 76, 61 and 49 keys.
The repeating 12-key pattern, and the groups of 2 and 3
A piano keyboard is one small pattern printed over and over: seven white keys and five black keys, twelve in total, repeated seven-and-a-bit times across the instrument. The black keys are what make the pattern readable, because they come in alternating clusters of two and three.
- Group of two black keys. The white key immediately to the left of the pair is always C; the white key between the pair is D, and the one just right of the pair is E.
- Group of three black keys. The white key immediately to the left of the trio is always F, and the three white keys threaded through and after it are G, A and B.
- Two places have no black key between them. B–C and E–F are pairs of adjacent white keys. That is not a manufacturing shortcut: those two steps are genuinely half the size of the others, which is what gives the pattern its shape.
Because the pattern repeats exactly, a shape you learn in one octave works everywhere else on the keyboard. It is also why the diagram above only needs labels on one octave for you to find your way around all seven.
What the black keys are called
The black keys are the sharps and flats. Sharp (♯) means “the next key up”; flat (♭) means “the next key down”. So the black key sitting between C and D is C♯ when you think of it as raising C, and D♭ when you think of it as lowering D — one key, one sound, two names, chosen to suit the music around it.
| Black key | Sharp name | Flat name | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Between C and D | C♯ | D♭ | Group of 2 |
| Between D and E | D♯ | E♭ | Group of 2 |
| Between F and G | F♯ | G♭ | Group of 3 |
| Between G and A | G♯ | A♭ | Group of 3 |
| Between A and B | A♯ | B♭ | Group of 3 |
There are 36 black keys on an 88-key piano: five per octave for seven octaves, plus one extra (B♭0) among the three keys at the very bottom. Turn labels on in the chart above and every black key shows both of its names.
Octaves, and where middle C sits on the keyboard
An octave is the distance from one key to the next key of the same name — twelve keys, counting the black ones. Play a C and the next C up: same letter, same character, exactly double the frequency. That repetition is why the keyboard has only twelve key names to learn instead of 88.
Octave numbers count upwards from the bottom of the keyboard, changing at every C. That makes the bottom key A0, the first C above it C1, and the highest key C8. Middle C is C4 — the 40th key of the 88, and on a full-size piano it is the fourth C from the left, usually sitting just about under the maker’s name. It is marked with a small ring on the chart above.
On smaller keyboards middle C moves position but keeps its name: it is the third C from the left on a 76-, 61- or 49-key board, because those instruments start at C2 or E1 rather than A0.
Grand pianos, uprights and digital keyboards: key counts compared
Acoustic pianos — grand or upright, cheap or concert — are 88 keys almost without exception. That standard was settled in the late nineteenth century, once builders found that the extremes beyond A0 and C8 were more useful as vibrating air than as playable notes. Before that, keyboards grew steadily: Mozart wrote for instruments of about five octaves, roughly the range of a 61-key keyboard today.
A few concert instruments do go further. Bösendorfer’s Imperial grand has 97 keys, reaching down to C0, and a handful of specialist builders have gone beyond 100. The extra bass keys are often left dark or covered, because they exist mainly to enrich the resonance of the notes above them.
Digital pianos follow the acoustic standard at 88 keys with weighted action. Portable keyboards trade keys for size and price — 76, 61, 54 or 49 — and MIDI controllers go smaller still, down to 25 keys, on the assumption you will shift octaves with a button instead. All of them use the identical repeating pattern, so nothing you learn here has to be relearned on a different instrument.
Frequently asked questions
How many keys does a piano have?
A full-size piano has 88 keys: 52 white keys and 36 black keys. They run from A0 at the bottom to C8 at the top, which is seven full octaves plus three extra keys. Smaller keyboards commonly come with 76, 61, 54 or 49 keys, and a few concert grands add a handful more in the bass.
What are the black keys on a piano called?
The black keys are the sharps and flats. Each one has two names depending on which white key you approach it from: the black key between C and D is C sharp (C♯) if you raise C, and D flat (D♭) if you lower D. There are five black keys in every octave, grouped in a two and a three.
What are the white keys called?
The white keys use the letters A to G, then start again — C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, and so on up the keyboard. The quickest way to find C is to look for a group of two black keys: the white key immediately to their left is always C.
How many octaves is 88 keys?
88 keys covers seven full octaves plus a minor third — just over 7¼ octaves. The seven complete octaves run from C1 up to C8; below C1 there are three extra keys at the very bottom of the keyboard: A0, B♭0 and B0.
Is 61 keys enough to learn piano?
Yes, for a first year or two. 61 keys gives you five full octaves (C2–C7), which covers almost all pop, rock and beginner method-book music. You will start to run out of room in classical repertoire, which regularly uses the extreme bass and treble, and in anything that asks for a sustain pedal and weighted keys.
