A fully interactive guide to piano octaves, the musical staff, note durations, rhythm and the metronome — all in one page.
The word octave comes from Latin octava — "eighth." It describes the interval between a note and another with exactly double its frequency. On a piano it spans 8 white keys, from one C to the very next C.
Scientific Pitch Notation (SPN) assigns a number to each octave starting from 0. C starts each octave — it falls just after every pair of black keys. Click any card to highlight that octave on the keyboard below.
The curl wraps around the G4 line. Used for higher notes — right hand piano, violin, flute.
Lines (↑): E4 · G4 · B4 · D5 · F5
Spaces (↑): F4 · A4 · C5 · E5
The two dots flank the F3 line. Used for lower notes — left hand piano, cello, bass.
Lines (↑): G2 · B2 · D3 · F3 · A3
Spaces (↑): A2 · C3 · E3 · G3
Every step up a line or space on the staff = the next white key to the right on the piano. Higher on the staff = further right on the keyboard.
| Note | Octave | Staff Position | Frequency | Clef |
|---|
Click any of the 88 keys below to see exactly where it sits on the grand staff — whether it's a ledger line below bass, inside treble, or far above in the upper octaves. The staff updates in real time.
Pitch tells you which key to press. Rhythm tells you how long to hold it. A beat is the steady pulse — like a heartbeat. A note's duration tells you how many beats to hold that note.
A metronome marks exact tempo in BPM (beats per minute). At 60 BPM, one beat = one second. At 120 BPM, one beat = half a second. Each tick = one beat.
| Note | Beats | Duration at 60 BPM | Relative Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole 𝅝 | 4 beats | 4.00 s | |
| Half 𝅗𝅥 | 2 beats | 2.00 s | |
| Quarter ♩ | 1 beat | 1.00 s | |
| Quaver ♪ | ½ beat | 0.50 s |
Music is divided into equal chunks called bars (or measures). A time signature tells you how many beats per bar and which note value counts as one beat.
The top number is your count. The bottom number is the reference note — 4 = quarter note, 2 = half note, 8 = eighth note.
A 4/4 bar always contains exactly 4 beats. Choose a note pattern, press Play — the metronome ticks on each beat while the playhead shows exactly where you are.
Fill a 4/4 bar with any combination totalling 4 beats: ♩ + 𝅗𝅥 + ♩ = 4
The metronome keeps the beat constant. Notes land on or between beats — the pulse never stops.
A4 = 440 Hz → A5 = 880 Hz → A3 = 220 Hz. The relationship is perfectly logarithmic.
The number tells you which octave. C starts each octave — after every pair of black keys.
Middle C (~262 Hz) sits at the centre of the piano and on a ledger line between the two staves.
Higher on the staff = higher pitch = further right on the keyboard. All three are equivalent.
Treble covers C4–G6, Bass covers E2–C4. Together they form the Grand Staff used for piano.
Whole = 4 beats · Half = 2 · Quarter = 1 · Quaver = ½. Rhythm is how these combine in time.
Barlines divide music into equal chunks. In 4/4: STRONG · weak · medium · weak.
Which key, how long, when, and how fast — the four dimensions of music.
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