Find middle C, rest your right thumb on it, and play the five white keys under your fingers. Add three left-hand chords and you can play thousands of songs. That really is the first lesson.
Step 1: find middle C
Look at the black keys. They run in groups of two and three, over and over. Find a group of two near the middle of the keyboard. The white key just to its left is C, and the one nearest the middle is middle C. Almost everything starts there.
Do this until it is automatic. It is how you find every other note: groups of two mean you are around C, D and E; groups of three mean F, G, A and B.
Step 2: number your fingers
Piano music numbers the fingers on both hands: thumb 1, index 2, middle 3, ring 4, little finger 5. Every instruction you will ever read uses those numbers, so it is worth ten seconds now.
Curve your fingers a little, as if holding a small ball, and keep your wrist level with the keys. Flat, straight fingers are the most common beginner habit and the hardest to unlearn.
Step 3: your first five notes
Put your right thumb on middle C and let the next four fingers fall on the four white keys to the right: D, E, F, G. Do not move your hand. Play them one at a time going up, C D E F G, then back down.
That shape, five fingers on five neighbouring white keys, is called a five-finger position. A surprising amount of beginner music never leaves it. Play it slowly and evenly. Even matters more than fast, always.
Step 4: your first three chords
A chord is three or more notes played together. Three of them open more songs than any others:
- C: the notes C, E and G. Left hand: little finger, middle finger, thumb.
- F: F, A and C, the same shape moved up.
- G: G, B and D.
Move between them slowly until your hand finds each one without looking. Add A minor (A, C and E) and you have the four chords behind an enormous share of pop music.
Step 5: put the hands together
This is where it becomes music: the left hand holds a chord while the right hand plays a melody over it. Start with the left hand holding one C chord while the right hand walks up and down those five notes. It sounds like something almost at once.
Hands together is also the hardest jump for beginners. Practise each hand alone until it is boring, then put them together at half the speed you think you need.
Step 6: play a real tune today
Ode to Joy is the classic first piece: only white keys, and it never leaves the five-finger position. Right hand starting on E, play:
- E E F G
- G F E D
- C C D E
- E D D
That is the first line, and it is instantly recognisable. Play it slowly enough that every note is even. Then add the left hand: a C chord under the first half, a G chord under the second.
How much to practise, and for how long
Fifteen minutes a day beats two hours on a Sunday, by a wide margin. Playing is a physical skill, and the gains happen between sessions, not during them.
Practise slowly. Nearly every beginner plays too fast, makes the same mistake again and again, and learns the mistake. If a passage falls apart, halve the speed until it holds, then creep back up.
A rough guide: a week to find notes comfortably, a month to play simple tunes with both hands, six months to a year to play recognisable songs for other people. Nobody is quick at this and everyone gets there.
Do you need a real piano to start?
No. Start with whatever makes a sound, including this page. What matters at the beginning is the layout and the habit, and those are the same on every keyboard.
When you buy, a 61-key keyboard is plenty for a first year. Move to 88 weighted keys when you run out of room at the ends or want a real action under your fingers.
Common beginner mistakes
None of these are fatal, and all are far easier to fix in week one than in year one.
- Flat fingers and a collapsed wrist.
- Looking at your hands instead of ahead.
- Learning the right hand only, then discovering the left hand is a whole new skill.
- Practising fast to sound good instead of slow to get good.
- Skipping days, which costs more than any single session gains.
Questions people ask
- Can I teach myself piano?
- Yes. Plenty of people do, especially for pop and chord-based playing. A teacher speeds up technique and catches bad habits early, which matters most if you want to play classical music.
- How long does it take to learn piano?
- A few weeks to play simple tunes with both hands, six months to a year to play songs comfortably for other people, and years for difficult classical pieces. The first month is the steepest and the most rewarding.
- Do I need to read sheet music?
- Not to start, and not at all for chord-based playing. Reading opens up written music, so it is worth learning eventually, but it is not the entry fee.
- Do I need 88 keys?
- No. Most beginner music sits in the middle four octaves. A 61-key keyboard, or the keyboard you are reading this on, is enough for everything in this guide.
- What age is too late to start?
- There is not one. Adults learn faster than children early on because they understand the patterns; children win later on practice hours. Either way, starting is the whole trick.
- How do I practise without a piano at home?
- Play in the browser. The layout, the note names and the chord shapes are the same, so everything transfers the day you sit at a real instrument.