Several of us have gone to school who include music as part of the program of study. We are all familiar with the whole notes, half notes and the basic do-re-mi's, for in during school days, we were taught about some basics. Added on the list is the G-clef or the Treble clef, and the F-clef or what we call the Bass clef. If music was one of your subjects, more likely you are aware of the acronym FACE as well as the notes - Every Good Boy Does Fine on the staff. But if you haven't remembered, this is a great way to restore your memory.



The tones of the piano are characterized by the black notes on the spaces and lines of the grand staff (the Treble and the Bass clef). On the grand staff, what is being placed on the four spaces are the letters F, A, C and E in their respective arrangement. The first space at the base is occupied by F while E takes the last place at the top. F, A, C and E stands for fa, la do and mi notes respectively. The line is occupied by the phrase Every Good Boy Does Fine. E is on the first line which stands for the mi note as said earlier, G which is sol, B stands for ti, D represents re and F denotes fa. If you take it this way, we have the C-D-E-F-G-A-B order for the notes do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti.

There are 88 keys on the piano and has seven octaves starting with the tone A on the lowest or left octave while tone C at the highest or right octave. You can find the “middle C” is the 40th tone and as the name indicates, it is on the middle of the keyboard if you count all the white and the black keys form left to right or vice versa. The middle C is the good basis on how to distinguish the location of the treble and bass clef. All the notes of the G-clef are located on the right side of the middle C; on the other hand, the all the notes of the F-clef is on the right side of the middle C.

If you want to play the natural notes, you have to key in the white keys while if you want to hit either the flats (b) or the sharps (#), you have to hit the black keys. Black keys on the left represent the flats. Black keys on the right represent the sharps. These are some simple things to remember in playing the piano before learning all the exercises.

I hope this article have provided you with some “small” details that will refresh your memory from all the basics that have been taught to you if ever you have forgotten them. When things on the piano playing gets very complicated, it is always easy to go back to the basic and smooth things out. Keep these in mind as you pave your way to becoming a successful pianist.