Piano Playing Tips

Measure – referred to as a bar, it is the thick bold black vertical lines drawn on a stave that separates the patterns of notes.

Time Signature – This is the indication of how many notes and what kind of notes are in a measure or bar. The most common time signature is 4 / 4, pronounced “4 by 4”. It is sometimes commonly referred to a “common time” as it is the most common time signature. Regularly appearing at the beginning of the piece, the top number refers to the amount of beats in the bar – 4 – and the bottom number refers to the length of the note. In this instance a 4 is a quarter of a note. Therefore, 4 / 4 means there are 4 quarter notes in a bar of 4 beats. Confused? Think of it this way. 4 / 4 means there are 4 notes that when played will be equal to 4 beats. A quarter note gets one beat so 4 quarter notes = 4 beats. Based on the below reference we can say the 4 / 4 has 4 beats and each beat has a quarter note known as a crotchet.

Bottom number 1 = whole note (brieve)

Bottom number 2 = half note (sem-brieve)

Bottom number 4 = quarter note (crotchet)

Bottom number 6 = eighth note (quaver)

Bottom number 16 = sixteenth note (semi-quaver)

Notes – There are 5 common types (meaning length) of notes used in piano playing. Using the time signature of 4 / 4 again:

Whole Note – Black circle. 4 beats. So in a 4 / 4 bar it would be played once. Known as a Brieve

Half note – Black circle with a stem (line) on one of its sides depending where it is placed in the stave. 2 beats. So in a 4 / 4 bar is would be played twice. Known as a Semi-Brieve.

Quarter note – like a half note but the circle is coloured in black. 1 beat.  So in a 4 / 4 bar it would be played four times. Known as a Crotchet.

Eighth note – like a Crotchet with a flag or tail on the stem. ½ beat. So in a 4 / 4 bar it would be played eight times. Known as a Quaver.  

Sixteenth note – like an eighth note but has two flags or tails on the stem. ¼ beat. So in a 4 / 4 bar it would be played sixteen times (4 times on 1 bear). Known as a Semi-Quaver.

There are also rests which is when nothing is played. Rests still represent a beat in the bar. A rest is equivalent to a note value. So a whole rest = whole note, meaning nothing is played for 4 beats. A half rest = half note, meaning nothing is played for 2 beats etc.

Semi-tones and tones

Semi-tone – Means to move one note upwards (right) or downwards (left). For example, on middle C, the next note upwards is the black one (C#). On E or B, the next note is F or C respectively.

Tones – two semi-tones added together. So two notes upwards or downwards. On C, two semi-tones (tone) will be D. On E, the first semi-tone is F and the second semi-tone is F# so the tone is F#.  

Sharps and Flats

Sharp – Written #, when you sharpen a note you move one semi-tone upwards or downwards. So on C# is one semi-tone above the note C. There are five commonly used sharpened notes – C#, D#, F#, G#, A#.  

Flats – Written like a ‘b’ next to a note, when you flatten a note you move a semi-tone downwards. So on note B, a B flat is one semi-tone lower which is the black key next to B. There are five commonly flattened notes – B, A, G, E, D.

An important point is that C# is also D Flat and F sharp is G Flat.