Glossary

The words this course uses for playing songs on keyboard. Every lesson uses these terms.

A term goes in here once you've used it correctly in a drill or answer, not when it's first introduced. The list starts empty and grows lesson by lesson.

The keyboard

Note name

The letter A–G (plus ♯/♭ for black keys) that identifies a key, whichever octave it's in.

Avoid: pitch class

Landmark

A black-key group used to find a note fast. The two-group marks C (its left side), the three-group marks F.

Hands

Finger number

Fingers counted from the thumb outward: 1 thumb, 2 index, 3 middle, 4 ring, 5 pinky. Same numbering for both hands.

Shape

A fixed group of notes with a fixed fingering that the hand learns as one unit, e.g. the Moonlight shape B–E–G.

Avoid: pattern, figure