Piano keys are arranged in repeating patterns of white and black keys, patterns that help the pianist more quickly identify notes, scales, and (musical) keys. The 88 keys are broken up into 7 octaves, within which each contain 12 notes separated into two distinct clusters of white and black keys.

A piano keyboard consists of a series of white and black keys. The white keys represent the natural notes of the musical alphabet, while the black keys represent sharps (one half-step higher C#, D#, F#) and flats (one half-step lower D♭, E♭, G♭). The pattern of black and white keys repeats across the entire keyboard....

The piano notes are named using the first 7 letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. This pattern then repeats over and over across the keyboard. We will think of the note C as our starting point, since it’s the first note of each 12-note pattern. As a result, our note name pattern becomes: C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.

Piano Keys Layout A piano keyboard layout has repeating patterns of 12 keys, which consist of the 7 white keys and 5 black keys mentioned above. This pattern is a single octave, and a piano will have multiple octaves across its piano notes. Each octave contains the same set of 12 notes but at different pitch ranges.

A full piano keyboard consists of 88 keys spanning seven octaves plus a minor third. While every pitch will sound different, the notes repeat in a series ranging from A-G. The distance between a note and the next time that note repeats on the keyboard is called an octave. So, for example, C-C is an octave.