You’re going to hear a lot about middle C, so it’s important to know how to find it. The area around middle C will be the starting point for many piano songs, and it’s also a general border between keys played with the left hand, and keys played with the right hand.
Find Middle C on the Piano
To find middle C on your keyboard, position yourself at the center of the piano. The middle C will be the closest C to the middle of the keyboard.
Try It: Locate and play the middle C on your keyboard. When you’re done, check the illustration to see if you’ve found it.Finding Middle C on an Electric Keyboard
You can easily locate middle C by counting the C’s on your keyboard. Start from the left-hand side, and use the following guidelines based on your keyboard size.
Some keyboards have fewer than 88 keys; here is how to find them on all sizes:
- 88-key – Middle C is the fourth C you count.
- 76-key – Is the third C.
- 61-key – Is the third C.
- 49-key – Is the third C.
Another way to find out the size is by counting the total amount of C’s.
- 88-key – You will count eight C’s (including the very last key on the board).
- 76-key – Has six C’s.
- 61-key – Has six C’s (including the very last key).
- 49-key – Has five C’s (including the very last key).
It might take time to locate middle C without counting. Find it each time you sit at your piano, and it will quickly become second nature.
You can also use the illustrated guides to find middle C on the above keyboard sizes.
Now you’re ready to learn the rest of the notes of the keyboard.
