Basic TheoryFor absolute beginnersJust in case you are completely new to the piano and making music in general, here is a quick introduction to the instrument and music theory.Even though a piano has 88 keys, there are only 12 unique tones:This group o 12 tones is called an octave and repeats over and over on the key!oard. There are " ull octaves and a handul o e#tra keys on a piano:$ou can recogni%e the notes !y looking at the pattern o !lack and white keys. There are always 2 !lack keys, then & !lack keys, again 2 !lack keys, again & !lack keys, and so on.The white key immediately to the let o each set o 2 !lack keys is called C. ' you learn to locate (, you can always ind the other notes.The !lack keys sometimes seem to scare !eginners, !ut they aren)t any more special than white keys. They are only shorter to put all 12 tones in reach o the average hand, and colored !lack to give the eye an easy pattern to recogni%e. That)s all.*eys on the let o the key!oard produce low tones, keys on the right produce high tones.The ( key that is roughly in the center o the key!oard is reerred to as middle C.+ike ' said, there are only 12 unique tones that repeat over and over. This means a tone in one octave sounds the same as that same tone an octave a!ove or !elow, ,ust lower or higher. 'n other words: a ( is always a (, no matter i you play it high or low.-s you can see in the picture a!ove, each o the !lack keys has two names. The !lack key to the right o ( can !e called (. / pronounce 0( sharp1 / or 2! / pronounce 02 flat0.3e call these tones enharmonically equivalent. This means they sound the same / ater all, they share the same key on the piano / !ut that we still consider them two dierent tones. 3hich name is right depends on the conte#t.4ot all pianos have 88 keys. 5ome digital pianos have "6 keys, electronic key!oards only61. This is still enough to play most music. 'n the time o 7ach and 8o%art, instruments didn)t have that many keys anyway.The pedalsThe piano has one or more oot pedals, which orm an essential part o piano playing. The most important pedal is the damper pedal 9or 0sustain1 pedal:. To play the piano, you need at least a damper pedal.;n an acoustic piano, the strings are held in place !y a damper that rests on the string. 3hen you press a key, the damper is lited and the string can vi!rate reely. . !ecomes >, (. !ecomes ( and 2. !ecomes 2.The scale o E natural minor is then: E F% G! C D EThe two other minor scales / harmonic minor and melodic minor / are !oth derived rom the natural minor scale. +et)s look at the harmonic scale irst.The harmonic minor scaleThis scale is almost identical to the natural minor scale, e#cept or one tone. ' could give you an interval ormula or the harmonic minor scale, !ut the ollowing rule is much easier to remem!er:=armonic minor scale F natural minor scale !ut with ."'n other words, the only dierent tone is the "th, which must !e sharpened.+et)s make the harmonic scale o ( minor. 3e)ve seen that ( natural minor is: C D E$ FG $ !$ CThe "th tone in that scale is 7!. ' we sharpen this tone 9raise it !y a hal?step:, it !ecomes 7.Then the harmonic ( minor scale is: C D E$ F G $ ! CThat)s all there is to it. 4ow you)re pro!a!ly wondering: what is the purpose o this harmonic minor scaleD 't has something to do with chords 9as its name implies:.3e haven)t discussed this yet, !ut you can !uild a chord on each tone o the scale. ' you !uild a chord on the Gth tone o the natural scale o ( minor then it would !e a G minorchord consisting o the tones: G !$ D=owever, in a lot o music this so?called G?chord 9or H?chord in !.3e drop the $ rom >! and count ( to >, which is G tones. The interval is some o kind o ith !ut not a regular ith !ecause we want >! instead o >, which is a hal?step lower. 5o we 0latten1 9or 0lower1: the interval to make it a diminished fifth.4ote that the intervals ( to B. and ( to >! sound e#actly the same on the piano !ecauseB. and >! are the same key. 3e call these intervals 0enharmonically equivalent1.That doesn)t mean you can simply su!stitute them or each other: i the top note is named B. then the interval must !e a ourth@ i the top note is named >! then the interval must !e a ith. $ou can)t call a ourth a ith and vice versa.E#ample: the interval B to -!.-s !eore, we drop the $ and count B to -, which is & tones. That means the interval is some kind o third. 7ecause -! is a hal?step lower than - we latten the third to make it a minor third.4ow why is a lattened third called 0minor1 !ut a lattened ith called 0diminished1D Borthe same reason some intervals are called 0perect1 9unison, ourth, ith and octave: andothers are not 9second, third, si#th and seventh:.The rules or interval calculations are: Ierect intervals can !e augmented or diminished. 8a,or intervals may !e augmented or made minor. 8inor intervals may !e diminished or made ma,or.$ou can also look it up here:Name IntervalUnison 1Augmented unison &1Diminished second ''2Minor second '2Major second 2Augmented second &2Diminished third ''3Minor third '3Major third 3Augmented third &3Diminished fourth '4Perfect fourth 4Augmented fourth &4Diminished fifth '5Perfect fifth 5Augmented fifth &5Diminished sith ''6Minor sith '6Major sith 6Augmented sith &6Diminished se"enth ''7Minor se"enth '7Major se"enth 7Augmented se"enth &7Diminished octa"e '8#cta"e 8'n this ta!le, $ means 0latten1 or lower !y a hal?step, $$ means lower a whole?step, % means 0sharpen1 or raise !y a hal?step.'n the a!ove e#amples, we dropped the % and $ rom the second interval tone, !ut what i the first tone has a % or $DE#ample: (. to E.Birst, we drop the sharps and lats like !eore, and count: ( F 1, 2 F 2, E F &. The interval we are looking or will !e some kind o third. =owever, !ecause the irst tone is (. and not (, we need to make the interval a hal?step smaller 9not largerC: to ind a minor third.=ere is the ull procedure again:1.