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Almost every modern piano has 52 white keys and 36 black keys for a total of 88 keys (seven octaves plus a minor third, from A 0 to C 8). Many older pianos only have 85 keys (seven octaves from A 0 to A 7). Some piano manufacturers have extended the range further in one or both directions.
The normal 88 keys were numbered 1–88, with the extra low keys numbered 89–97 and the extra high keys numbered 98–108. A 108-key piano that extends from C 0 to B 8 was first built in 2018 by Stuart & Sons. [4] (Note: these piano key numbers 1-108 are not the n keys in the equations or the table.)
[citation needed] Modern piano keyboards ordinarily have an octave span of 164–165 mm (6.46–6.50 in), resulting in the width of black keys averaging 13.7 mm (0.54 in) and white keys about 23.5 mm (0.93 in) at the base, disregarding space between keys.
The modern piano keyboard is based on the interval patterns of the diatonic scale. Any sequence of seven successive white keys plays a diatonic scale. Of Glarean's six natural scales, three have a major third/first triad: (Ionian, Lydian, and Mixolydian), and three have a minor one: Dorian, Phrygian, and Aeolian).
The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, which are usually housed in bell towers or belfries of churches or municipal buildings. [1]
For the sake of simplicity, the examples shown above are formed by natural notes (also called "white notes", as they can be played using the white keys of a piano keyboard). However, any transposition of each of these scales is a valid example of the corresponding mode. In other words, transposition preserves mode. [59]
Musical symbols are marks and symbols in musical notation that indicate various aspects of how a piece of music is to be performed. There are symbols to communicate information about many musical elements, including pitch, duration, dynamics, or articulation of musical notes; tempo, metre, form (e.g., whether sections are repeated), and details about specific playing techniques (e.g., which ...
Keys of a Steinway grand piano. Steinway keys are made of Bavarian spruce. [157] The surface of the white keys is made of polymer; earlier, they had been made of elephant ivory. Around the 1950s, Steinway switched from using ivory, [158] and some years later use of ivory for piano keys was outlawed. [159]