My students get to know the key names this way: the 3 black keys are 'Grandma's house,' and the 2 black keys are 'the dog's house.' The piano keyboard is the Rosetta Stone for all musical instruments!

I feel the electronic tuner should come LATER, after they understand how the piano keyboard relates to the strings and frets of the guitar.

It is much more meaningful than using an electronic tuner. Yes, guitar! I write the names on the appropriate piano keys for the guitar strings - E, A, D, G, B, E - and that is how they learn to tune their instrument. I use 'blank' paper keyboards with all my beginner piano, violin, voice and guitar students. My graphic designer cleaned up the keyboards a bit, and they print beautifully! Guitar players also need to understand the piano keyboard My newest printer, a very basic Canon model, doesn't have a lot of finesse with sizing, and I have found that I only get a good print copy now by going to my own book, Songs Old & Songs New, and using the keyboards found there. Even if I DO change settings, such as to 'fit to the page', I might still be clipping off the keyboard on either side. I may forget to change my printer settings, and end up with an unusable sheet. Printing in 'landscape mode', or horizontally, is always an opportunity for me to WASTE PAPER AND INK. Please scroll down the page for the download links. Here is a student who has placed a little animal on each G# key. It's a BIG DEAL when we've gotten through all the white keys, and turn our attention to those mysterious black keys, with the double names.

'This week, I want you to write in all the D's, in pencil, and play every D, etc.', so that we keep returning to the paper piano keyboard layout week after week. I used to assign kids the entire paper to fill in the first week, but gradually I've come to assign just one note name per week, and stipulate that at home, they are to strike every one of THOSE keys up and down the keyboard every day. (As long as 'ghost images' don't remain behind!) One new key at a time You might also find it useful to laminate one of the online piano keyboards below, and allow your students to write on the keyboard with an erasable felt pen, to use the keyboard over and over. If you choose to print out this particular piano learning guide for your students (or yourself), I suggest laminating it, or using wide tape to cover the important parts of the page! INK IS SO EXPENSIVE, and we music teachers seem to need a lot of it.

Image of piano keyboard