Piano Keys and Notes: Find Any Key

Choose a keyboard layout, then select a key to see its note name and octave. To find a note from its name, enter a full label such as F3 or A4. A letter alone, such as C, identifies several keys; choose an octave before selecting one. Use Play note when you want to hear the selected pitch.

The white-key letters repeat A, B, C, D, E, F, G. Black keys form groups of two and three. Find C just before a two-black-key group, and F just before a three-black-key group. Between one C and the next C are twelve semitone steps; the upper C begins the next repeat.

The standard 88-key layout shown here runs from A0 to C8: 52 white keys and 36 black keys. Its lowest-to-highest span is seven octaves plus three semitones. The alternative 61-key example runs from C2 to C7, spanning five octaves with 36 white and 25 black keys. Check your instrument’s endpoints before using that example.

A black key can have two familiar names: C♯/D♭, D♯/E♭, F♯/G♭, G♯/A♭, or A♯/B♭. These pairs point to the same piano key. Sharps and flats can also name white keys. The black key to the left of G is F♯/G♭; the one to its right is G♯/A♭.

This reference calls middle C C4. C3 is one octave below it; A5 is one octave above A4. F3 is the F in octave 3. An A-flat query keeps the name A♭ while offering its matching octaves. For staff positions, open the notes chart; for A4 or another note in hertz, open the frequency table.

B♯3 shares the C4 key; B♯4 shares C5. C♭4 shares B3, not B4. Keep the written name and its octave together. D8 lies above this 88-key layout’s C8 endpoint. An out-of-range result should stay visible as a message, rather than moving the requested note to another octave.