How many keys does a standard piano keyboard have?

88. The piano has 33 black keys and 55 white keys.



What is the lowest note on a standard piano keyboard?

A. The lowest note on the piano is A, which is the farthest key to your left. A is a white key. On some rare pianos there several additional bass keys ending with a C that is subsonic.



What is the highest note on the piano?

C. C is the highest note, and is a white key. It is the farthest key to your right.

This famous composer wrote songs including "Fur Elise" and "Moonlight Sonata". Beethoven. Ludwig van Beethoven was a famous composer born in Bonn. Beethoven later moved to Vienna, where he died. He was deaf, and had a terrible temper. The piece "Fur Elise" is also known as "Bagatelle in A Minor". "Moonlight Sonata" is more formally called "Sonata Op.27 No.2". Beethoven's piano music consists of 32 sonatas, along with many other small pieces, and is commonly found in classical music books.



What is it called when you have each hand play two keys and you play the keys (one key from each hand at a time) repeatedly at a fast pace?

Tremolo. In a tremolo you usually play an octave with each hand. They are written above the notes as a 'Z' looking figure, but with more lines. Tremoli are usually played at the end of a song. The definition for the word is "a tremulous effect produced by rapid repetition of a single tone or rapid alternation of two tones".(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition) The word "tremolo" is Italian, coming from the Latin word tremulus.



What device produces a "clicking sound" and can be used to keep time while playing the piano?

Metronome. Metronomes can come in many forms. Some have a swinging pendulum and others just produce sound through a speaker. You set the metronome to the time indicated at the top of the music page, and it will click once for every beat. For example, if you are in 4/4 time, the metronome will click 4 times in every measure.



On your piece of music, if you see a 'p', what does that mean?

Piano or soft. Piano, meaning soft, is the opposite of the symbol 'f'(forte), meaning loud.



Pianoforte is the full name for the piano meaning ______.

Soft loud. Pianofortes are rarely called by their full name, which is pronounced in Italian. The original name was "gravicembalo col piano e forte" (the "great harpsichord with soft and loud capabilities"). They generally are called "pianos". Some locations in Europe still refer to it as the "pianoforte". Pianoforte indicates the actual instrument, but the terms "piano" and "forte" also can be used to describe the volume at which the notes should be played.



What genre of instruments is the piano generally considered to be?

Percussion. Pianos are considered percussion, because despite the strings inside of them, small internal hammers hitting the strings produce the sound when a key is touched.



What is the most basic note, usually taught first to beginning piano students?

C. Middle C is in the middle of a piano, and usually taught first because of its simple major scale consisting of neither any sharps nor flats.



When instructed to play "legato", how should the piece sound?

Smooth and connected. When playing legato, you will usually also be playing in phrases and/or with the sustain pedal down.



How does the pedal furthest to the right change the music?

Sustains. A piano usually has 3 (sometimes only 2) pedals. The one furthest right sustains music, making it connect.





What time signature is most common? 4/4. 4/4 timing is used commonly in both classical and modern piano music. 4/4 time means a quarter note gets one count and each measure receives 4 counts.



What type of line divides measures?

bar. Bar lines split measures according to the time signature to make music easier to read.



What instruction means to play the notes short and choppy?

Staccato. Staccatos are marked by a little dot on the top of the note head. To play staccato, strike the key, then quickly release.

In 4/4 time, what type of note gets 3 counts?



Dotted half. The dotted half note consists of an unfilled head and a dot to the right of the head.



Decrescendo means to get _____.

Softer. Decrescendo's are marked with the less than sign used in mathematics. They are placed between the treble and bass clef staffs in individual lines.



On the music staff, how many lines are there?

5&five. There are five lines and four spaces on the music staff.



If the key signature indicates two sharps, which sharps will you play?

F and C. The major scale consisting of two sharps is D, so the piece you are playing would be in the key of D major.



If you play any single octave scale, how many keys will be played?

8. Any scale, minor or major, will always consist of seven keys, with the first key repeated at the end of the scale. These sets of eight keys are called octaves. Every octave has the keys A-G but not necessarily in that order. Also in an octave, a key's sharp or flat may be played in place of the natural key. For example, in the G major scale, F sharp is played in place of F. These seven keys were used in Ancient Greek modes, the naming of the colors of the rainbow, and in the organization of the periodic table.