Whether it’s your first instrument or another, learning to play the piano is worthwhile. In this beginner’s guide, you’ll find everything you need to learn piano.
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And I wanted to give up playing the piano.
Today I am a successful pianist and songwriter. My younger self would never have thought that. Even though I practiced much more and invested time in learning piano back then, I wasn’t making progress.
What was my problem?
I took very traditional piano lessons with a piano teacher. The teacher was really good, but what he couldn’t help me with was getting rid of my dependency.
Dependency? Since when is a piano teacher an addiction counselor, you’re probably asking yourself now.
I’m talking about the dependency on sheet music. I was dependent on the lines and black dots on paper. Without them, I was lost. And if the sheet music fell during a performance, I broke out in a cold sweat.
And that’s exactly how many piano students feel today. They give up on their dream.
How can you avoid that and do better?
So that you don’t lose time and can play the piano really well within a few months, I’ll now show you a way that helped me and many others get back on track.
The magical three words are:
Playing the piano by intuition.
That would change my musical life forever. But more on that later.
In this beginner’s guide, I would like to teach you the basics of playing the piano. By the end, you will understand the keyboard, be able to read music, and be familiar with scales, intervals, and more.
Are you excited yet? Then let’s get started!
You’re here because you want to learn to play the piano. So, of course, you need a piano to get started. Right? Or is there an alternative?
The fact is: There are some aspiring Intuinauts out there who ask me if they can master my piano course with a keyboard.
Clear answer: Yes and no.
In fact, there’s no general answer to this question. Why? You’ll find out in a moment.
Piano or keyboard? To answer this question, you should first know the difference between the two instruments. These are:
the number of keys. Keyboards usually have 61 keys. A piano usually has 88.
the price. A regular piano usually costs between 2,000 and 3,000 Euros. You can get a good keyboard for around 100 Euros.
the technology. A piano runs without electricity. With a keyboard, you are dependent on a power source.
the weight. A piano can easily weigh 200 kilograms. A keyboard usually weighs between one and eight kilograms.
For me, the big difference between the instruments – especially with beginners in mind – is the technology, or rather, the sound production. A keyboard has significantly lighter keys than a piano. And that affects both your playing feel and your tone control.
Depending on how hard you strike a note on the piano, it will sound softer or louder. On a keyboard, however, the volume of the notes is controlled electronically via a knob. When a key is struck, the note is always equally loud or soft.
Those were the facts. And they don’t necessarily speak in favor of tackling the “learning piano” project on a keyboard. But there is a solution: the e-piano.
These electronic pianos allow you to play with touch sensitivity. The transmission of key pressure and the resulting sound in these instruments is very similar to a piano.
Plus: There are even keyboards whose keys are modeled after piano keys. You can find such keyboards if you google “keyboard with touch-sensitive keys”.
So much for your “equipment.” But we’re here to learn piano. Let’s start with the basics.
You’re sitting in front of your piano, keyboard, or electric piano. Either way, you’ll see some black and white keys staring back at you. Don’t worry, it looks more complicated than it is.
Almost every standard keyboard has exactly 88 piano keys. But that doesn’t mean you have to learn 88 notes. Why? Take a look here:
What do you notice? Exactly. After 12 keys, everything repeats. Just count the white and black keys from the lower C to the next C.
The C is always located below the two black keys – the pair of black keys. Always. That means for you: Just look for two adjacent black keys on your keyboard. Below them is the C!
If you play upwards from this C along the white keys, you will strike the following 7 notes:
C – D – E – F – G – A – B
But then there are also the black keys. For that, you first need to know what half steps and whole steps are. Sounds strange? But it’s super easy.
The step between a white and a black key is always a half step.
If you go from C to the black key above it, that’s a half step. If you then go from this black key to D, that’s also a half step.
By the way: E and F are also only a half step apart. As are B and C. Why? Because there’s no key in between.
If there’s a key in between, it’s a whole step.
If you jump from F to G, you play a whole step on your keyboard, as there is a black key in between.
C major is my favorite key. And I’m not alone in that. Many Intuinauts from the Masterclass Intuition feel the same way. Why?
C major is incredibly comfortable to play. Provided you know how to arrange your fingers. But more on that in a moment.
Let’s play the C major scale first. We start at C. Now just play the white keys above it upwards, note by note, until you reach the next C. Voilà, you’ve played your first scale.
Let me guess what happened.
You jumped a bit with your hand over the keys. Because you ran out of fingers. Am I right?
No problem at all!
I’ll now give you immediately actionable tips on how to play the C major scale completely relaxed without jumps. The secret is the fingering.
There are things that are so easy to implement: You wonder why you didn’t do it that way from the start. This applies especially to fingering when learning to play the piano.
It is one of the basics that every newbie at the piano should master, whether children or adults. And you’ll learn it right away. Before that, let’s take a quick look at another important point you should consider.
Even Pros Make Mistakes.
It’s amazing. There are truly experienced musicians who can play the piano beautifully. But their posture – well, it’s less than professional.
It’s worthwhile for you to adopt the correct posture at the piano from the start. Because what you internalize will stick. Even incorrect posture. We won’t let it get that far.
A few points on correct posture at the piano (which, by the way, immediately looks much more professional):
Your piano stool is adjusted in height so that your forearms form a horizontal line with the floor and you can comfortably reach the keys.
You sit straight in front of the piano.
Your fingers rest rounded on the keys.
I will now take you by the hand and explain the musical notation system to you step by step. I will tell you the names of the notes. I will explain the staves to you. And I will help you find your way around a sheet of music.
Wow. It gets even better. With me, you will not only learn music theory, but also intuitive piano playing. The goal: to make you an independent piano virtuoso or an excellent improviser. So that you can play any song yourself without sheet music.
Music theory is just one way to get there. The classic way. But they are not the be-all and end-all. Nor are they the guide you should play by in the future.
Nevertheless, being able to read music has its advantages. If you have this know-how, your intuitive piano playing will be even better.
And you will eventually play as well as Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart combined. At least after this article you will have the potential to do so.
So, let’s get started and learn to read music together. Fight your way through this article. Stick with it. And soon you will be able to reap the rewards of your efforts.
When reading music, you determine the individual notes by reading the noteheads on the staff lines or in the spaces between the lines. You may notice that some music systems have this symbol at the beginning:
In other systems this:
This is the Violin clef – also called G clef. And the bass clef – also called F clef. . Why G and F keys? The two keys are located at their starting point on the G and F lines, respectively.
Are you wondering why there are two clefs and what you need them for? I’ll tell you: With the help of the treble and bass clefs, you are able to determine the exact pitch of the notes on the following staff lines.
Depending on the clef, the staff system has different meanings for the noteheads. For an easy start, remember: The treble clef (G clef) is placed before high notes, and the bass clef (F clef) is placed before low notes.
But which notes are where?
To understand this, take a look at the following graphic:
Here you can see middle C. It lies between the bass and treble clef. Remember this C exactly. It is now your starting point. From it you will learn all the other notes – whoosh – in no time!
Staff system with treble clef
Can you do the alphabet? You are definitely nodding your head now. Then learning music theory will be child’s play for you.
The notes are named (almost) after our alphabet: A B C D E F G. There is only one small difference. The B in the German-speaking music system is the H. So A H C D E F G.
Super easy, right?
Now the question is where these notes lie on or between the staff lines in the staff system.
You just learned where C is. And you learned that C is our starting point for all other notes. So starting with C, our notes are C D E F G A H.
With these letters you can now name all the notes from C upwards. Our middle C is on the first ledger line below the staff system in the case of the G clef. From this starting point, you are now able to name all the other notes.
Perhaps you can already see it: After you arrive at C in the third space (viewed from below), the note names repeat again. As soon as the staff lines of the staff system are no longer sufficient, ledger lines – as with middle C – will help you.
Great! You now know what the note names are in the staff system of the treble clef. In the next step, you will learn where these notes are located on the keyboard.
Do you notice anything? Exactly – we have only named white keys. What about the black keys? And above all: How can these be recognized in the staff system?
Sharps (♯) and flats (♭) are the magic words here. These are the accidentals that raise or lower notes by a semitone. They always stand directly to the left of the note to which they refer.
A ♭ lowers a note by a semitone. In addition, a ♭ changes the name of the notes:
G becomes G flat
D becomes D flat, etc.
Exceptions are: E becomes E flat, A becomes A flat and H becomes B flat.
If there is a sharp in front of the notehead, the note is raised by a semitone. The note name also changes here. An -is is added. So C becomes C sharp, D becomes D sharp, etc. There are no exceptions in the designation here.
Staff system with bass clef
The good news first: After you have learned the staff system in the treble clef, the staff system in the bass clef will be a home run for you.
In principle, everything here works like the treble clef. The only difference: Our starting point, the C, is in the second space from the bottom.
The game is the same as with the treble clef. The C is followed by the D. The D is followed by the E, etc.
Tip: If you ever forget where your starting point is on the bass clef, simply orient yourself on the two dots behind the clef. These always enclose the F.
As with the treble clef, the notes repeat again and again.
Great! Now you can read the notes in the treble and bass clef. That was quick, wasn’t it?
That’s it! Now you’re ready for – drumroll – fingerings!
No, I’m not afraid of numbers. But these fingering numbers – they just made me sweat. I’m not alone in that. To this day, they make piano players and beginners nervous.
As if it weren’t enough to read through a jumble of notes in real-time and simultaneously transfer what’s written to the keys, you also encounter numbers. Numbers on the notes. They are actually supposed to help.
Because they stand for the fingerings. With intuitive piano playing, you don’t need them. The rules there are simpler and more effective. (I’ll tell you in a moment)
First, the complicated way of sheet music players: The respective number, in conjunction with a note, tells you which finger you should use when playing that note. But more on that in a moment.
In themselves, these fingering numbers are good. They provide orientation. They provide security at the piano. And ensure that you never run out of fingers.
But paying attention to notes and fingers simultaneously, playing fluently, and then also putting your own emotions into the song? Wow, that’s really hard.
If you already have a little experience with the piano, you certainly know this problem. And I want to immediately relieve you of this problem, or prevent it from arising in the first place. Because now you’ll learn the secret of fingerings.
There are only three simple rules that will permanently make your piano-playing life easier.
Thumb equals 1. Index finger equals 2. What’s going on here?
Finger theorists don’t call the thumb thumb. And they don’t call the index finger index finger. Every finger has its own number in the world of fingering.
The thumb is 1. The index finger is 2. The middle finger is 3. The ring finger is 4. And the little finger is 5. This applies to both the right and the left hand.
Why is that? To be honest, I don’t know either. But I’m pretty sure the numbers were chosen because they’re easier to write down in the sheet music.
So if there is a 1 next to a note, then you know immediately: I have to play this note with my thumb. Actually simple, right?
By the way, I completely forgo this numbering for myself. Because: I don’t play by sheet music, but intuitively. And therefore, I also intuitively place my fingers correctly. You can do that too! How? You’ll find out at the end of this post.
But first, let’s see how you can best organize your fingers on the piano on your own.
Why are we afraid of things that help us?
For example, I always had stage fright for live piano performances. Fear of failing. Fear of hitting the wrong note. Fear of embarrassment. But I completely ignored the fact that live performances help me.
They made me a better piano player. Why? Because through them, I got away from sheet music and discovered intuitive piano playing for myself. By the way, I haven’t had stage fright since then.
The same applies to fingerings. As a beginner, you’re afraid of the “finger theory”. Yet it makes your life so much easier. You’ll soon experience for yourself why that is.
Intuinauts only need three intuitive fingering rules and can play anything they want with them, without complicated numbers next to the notes.
And I’ll reveal these fingering rules to you now.
Fingering Rule 1: The little finger of the right hand always plays the highest note.
And the little finger of the left hand always plays the lowest.
When you play a sequence of notes, your pinky plays the highest note. And only that one. Because if the sequence of notes goes even higher, and you’ve already played a note with your pinky, you’re at a dead end. Then your hands start awkwardly jumping around. And we don’t want that.
Fingering Rule 2: Your Thumb is Your Lifesaver.
When you played the C major scale upwards earlier, you surely noticed that you eventually ran out of fingers. Here, your thumb is your lifesaver.
After the third finger – that is, the middle finger – you slide your thumb under your hand and place it on the next key. You do this until you reach the highest point of your note sequence. There you can then play the highest note with your pinky. You know this from Rule 1.
Fingering Rule 3: The next possible white key after a black one is always played with the thumb.
This rule only applies when you play upwards!
As soon as your fingers are on black keys while playing a note sequence, you should already have your thumb ready. Because as soon as your fingers leave the black keys upwards, the thumb comes into play.
Everything you just learned about right-hand fingerings also applies to the left hand. So, get started right away. Play the C major scale once upwards with your left hand. You only need to keep two things in mind:
Rule 1: The pinky of the left hand always plays the lowest note.
Rule 2: As soon as you play a black key to a white key downwards with your left hand, you play the white key with your thumb.
There are many things we do simultaneously: Listening and taking notes at the same time. Reading and listening to music in parallel. Entertaining the children and cooking dinner at the same time. And all of that is possible.
But these are also precisely the moments in life when we tend to make mistakes. And it’s the same with the piano.
Therefore, anyone starting to learn the piano is afraid – wrongly so – of the day when both hands will play together at the same time.
Classically, it goes like this:
First, you play a melody with your right hand. With your left hand, you play chords – we’ll get to that later.
And then? You have to put both together.
Oh dear, that sounds like a recipe for chaos.
Don’t worry. I’ll help you. I know some basic tips for beginners that will help you not despair at the hand combination when learning piano. The secret is two exercises.
Exercise: Play the same thing in parallel with both hands
To do this, place both hands on the keyboard. The little finger of the left hand rests on C and the thumb of the right hand on the C above it. Now you can play the C major scale upwards with both hands at the same time, for example:
C – D – E – F – G – F – E – D – C
If it doesn’t work right away, that’s not a problem at all. You’ll see: the more often you repeat this exercise, the more confident you will become. At some point, your fingers will move as if by themselves.
Exercise: Incorporate accents
For this exercise, you need a metronome. If you don’t have one, don’t worry. There are numerous metronome apps that do the same job as a classic metronome.
Set the metronome to your desired tempo and play one note on each beat of the metronome. Then double your tempo and play two notes per beat.
As soon as you are confident in keeping the tempo, we will change the emphasis of the notes. You play the note on the beat with emphasis, before the next beat without emphasis, then again with emphasis on the beat, then without emphasis, etc. Feel free to set the metronome nice and slow until the exercise is secure.
As soon as you have mastered this exercise with one hand, perform it with the other hand as well. And then with both hands at the same time.
Hats off, you’ve already come a long way in learning the piano. You can position your fingers correctly, play with both hands at the same time, keep the tempo and master the C major scale.
If you’ve read this far, then you’ve come a lot closer to your goal of “learning piano”. You can already do a lot.
After we have worked through the basics, we now get down to business: intervals, chords and – my favorite topic – improvisation.
Because if you want to learn to play the piano, you’ll reach your goal fastest with improvisation. I’m not the only one who’s convinced of this, but hundreds of Intuinauts who learn piano with me on piano.university.
Do you want to become part of our community? Then feel free to stop by. Or read on. Diligent beginners can expect a special gift at the end of this article.
Intervals describe the distance between two notes. They are – I’ll be honest – pure music theory. BUT: They also make you a better pianist. Because: With their help, you build tone combinations that always sound good.
And you will soon be able to independently form chords with which you can easily perform your favorite songs on the piano without sheet music. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well then, let’s go into detail.
Get to it. Errr. The keys. It’s best if you play each interval directly. This will help you memorize them.
By the way: You can play the following intervals anywhere on the piano. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll start with C now. Because we already know this tone. And you already master the C major scale.
C + C = Prime
Actually, you strike the notes at the same time in an interval. This is not possible with the prime, as it is the same note. But you can play along with the following intervals.
C + D = Second
C + E = Third
C + F = Fourth
C + G = Fifth
C + A = Sixth
C + H = Seventh
C + C = Octave (not the identical note but the next C above it)
C + D = Ninth (the next D)
C + E = Tenth (the next E)
There are other intervals. But honestly: If you as a beginner master the intervals from the prime to the octave, that’s already more than enough.
Quick throwback! Do you remember the chapter “Keyboard explained very simply”? If not, take a quick look and read the section on semitone and whole tone steps. This knowledge will be very useful for you now.
Quick memory aid:
For a semitone, use the nearest key on the piano. For a whole tone, a key is skipped.
Now it’s your turn. Play the C major scale once and check where the semitone steps are located.
Solution:
The first half step is between the 3rd and 4th and the second half step is between the 7th and 8th notes.
This is ALWAYS the case with a major scale. No matter where you start.
Note: No matter which note you start from – if you place a semitone step between the third and fourth and between the seventh and eighth notes and otherwise only play whole tone steps, you always play a correct major scale.
In a minor scale, on the other hand, the semitones are always between the 2nd and 3rd and between the 5th and 6th notes.
Some pianos have three pedals. Most have two. And yet you only need one. Why?
Actually, you only need the right pedal. The left pedal only makes your notes sound quieter. And you don’t really need that. After all, you can simply strike the keys on your piano more gently to reduce the volume.
If you still want to use the left pedal on the piano, feel free to do so.
For you, however, the right pedal is of much greater importance. This pedal is also called the sustain pedal. And there’s a reason for that.
If you press the right pedal while playing the piano, you’ll hear it immediately: The notes blur, creating a carpet of sound. That sounds good until it just gets swampy. But you can easily prevent that. With the following tips:
Do not hold the right pedal continuously.
Even if the sustain pedal is called the sustain pedal, that doesn’t mean you should hold it continuously. You create a sound carpet worth listening to if you occasionally lift your foot and then consciously press the sustain pedal again.
But when should you release the pedal and when should you press it again? Just read on.
Release the sustain pedal in the right places and press it in the right place.
As so often when playing the piano, there is a golden rule here: Release the pedal with every chord change. And press it as soon as you have struck new notes. Not before, but shortly after! Then the notes won’t blur.
If you want to learn even more about playing with the pedal – and maybe even improvise a song with me at the same time – feel free to register for my free beginner workshop. It’s even nicer together on the piano!
You only sound good with chords!
Then it’s high time to dedicate yourself to chords.
Fortunately, you’ve already played chords. Without even knowing it. Because: A chord is nothing more than two or more notes that are struck at the same time. And you did that at the latest with the intervals.
You will learn this directly in practice now. Sit down at your piano and play the basic chord in C major: C – E – G. You know these notes from the C major scale.
And now for the great news: You can already assemble every major basic chord independently. You simply play notes 1, 3 and 5 of the respective scale at the same time. And you already know how to build a scale.
Now you may be wondering what the whole thing looks like in minor? Exactly the same as in major.
You have learned that in a minor scale the semitones are always between the 2nd and 3rd and between the 5th and 6th notes. With this knowledge, you can now build your C minor chord. And what does it look like?
As with the minor chord, you use the first, third and fifth notes of the corresponding scale.
With me you will learn intuitive piano playing. Means: Notes have no place here. And yet I would now like to introduce you to a notation that you may encounter on sheet music.
But much more often on so-called lead sheets. You will learn to love them. Because: They don’t just consist of notes, but give you the information which chords are currently in demand. You can then use them as you like!
Let’s take a look at that in detail.
Let’s say you are supposed to play a C major chord. Then you will encounter the following notation on a lead sheet: ‘C / E’ or ‘C / G’.
C/E means: Play a C major chord in the right hand and an E as a bass note in the left hand. C / G means: Play a C major chord in the right hand and a G as a bass note in the left hand.
Of course, you can also play the full chord with your left hand. So simply C – E – G with the left and fingers 5 – 3 – 1. Just play what sounds best to you.
If you learn piano in a very classic way – with a teacher and sheet music or even with a piano learning app – then it can take half an eternity until you can perform the first impressive songs on the piano.
Maybe it will even take so long that you throw in the towel. And all the effort was in vain.
But that won’t happen to you. You did everything right. Because you have worked through this article. And already sniffed the cosmic air of the Intuinauts.
These piano cosmonauts have all opted for intuitive piano playing. The easier and faster way that makes you an enviable piano player.
The beginning has been made. And believe it or not: You are already able to improvise on the piano! All you need are two rules. If you internalize them, you are fit for your first improvised songs and pieces on the piano.
No matter what song you improvise – you should always maintain the basic mood of the song. Means: If the song is slow and solemn, so is your improvisation. If the song is cheerful and fast, so is your improvisation.
Tip: Keep the tempo of the original song with the help of a metronome.
You already know how to build chords independently. Like the C major chord. What you may not know yet: It doesn’t matter in which order and pitch you play the notes of your chord.
In the case of C major, for example, you can play the following variations (and some more):
Only combine this chord with notes from the C major scale. Then it always sounds right.
Note: Always use only the notes of the corresponding scale in combination with a chord.
You have now learned all the basics to successfully learn piano as a beginner. You know helpful tips that you can use to make music intuitively. And you know how to master the piano independently of sheet music.
You also now have the key in your hand that makes you independent of piano schools, piano apps and the like.
Now you can get started. You can improvise your first song. Together with me in the free piano course for beginners.
I’m looking forward to hitting the keys with you.
It’s never too late to learn the piano! With motivation and practice, anyone can start at any age.
Quality is more important than quantity. Regular, focused practice, even if only for a short time, leads to progress.
A real piano is ideal, but a keyboard can be sufficient for beginners, especially if it has weighted keys.
I hope you found it here! But joking aside: look for someone who shares your taste in music and offers a teaching method that suits your learning style.
That depends on the complexity of the song and how much time you spend practicing. With regular practice, simple songs can be learned in a few weeks.
Reading music is helpful, but there are also other methods such as intuitive piano playing (which you can learn from me).
Yes, there are many techniques and exercises specifically for beginners to improve technique and coordination.
We have compiled a list here: Piano pieces for beginners.
Yes, there are many online resources and apps that can help you learn to play the piano. Especially our workshop! But of course, success also depends on your own motivation.
Many beginners start with one hand to learn the basics and then add the second hand.
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