While learning to play piano you'll hear a lot of talk about middle C
. What is middle C, how do you find it, and why is it so important are all questions we're going to answer in this article.
What is Middle C
Middle C is quite literally the middle C key on your piano. It's the first key you most often learn as a beginner and is an easy reference point for the area of the keyboard many popular songs start.
Finding Middle C isn't difficult, but it will take a little memorization.
Finding Middle C on a Piano and Keyboard
The location of middle C on a piano is the 4th C from the left hand side. If you know your steps and notes on the keys you can count up from the left hand side where the first C is the 3rd Key, the second C is the 10th key and then every white keys after that is a C as well. So the middle C is the 24th white key from the left hand side.
On a keyboard this may vary depending on the number of keys. If you keyboard has 88 keys then it's still the 4th C but if you have a 76, 61 or 49 key keyboard it's the 3rd C. You can find the C the same way by counting up from the left hand side.
To help you remember the location pay attention to the groupings of black keys to the right. You can use those black keys as a reference point to quickly find middle C.
Why is Middle C Important?
From a musical point of view middle C denotes the area of the piano where a lot of the chords, notes etc. Begin in popular music. It is also thought of as the dividing key on the piano that separates your left hand from your right hand.