Hello, Keyboard!

An Art & Music Studio read-along picture book.

Piano lesson one: Hello, Keyboard!

Hi friends! I'm Ivy Keys, Botsville's piano teacher.

Welcome to my music room! Today, we're going to meet the piano keyboard.

First, let's sit like a piano player. Sit up nice and tall, like a tall tree.

Put your feet flat, and make soft, round hands, like you're holding a little bubble.

Listen. The keys way down on the left side make low, deep sounds, like a big, sleepy bear.

The keys way up on the right side make high, tweety sounds, like a little bird!

Now, look at all the keys. Some keys are white.

And some keys are black. The black keys are shorter, and they sit up a little higher.

Hi, Ivy! I'm Pemmo! Can I help you count?

Yes, please, Pemmo! Look closely. The black keys live in little groups.

Here are two black keys, side by side. They're twins!

One, two! Twins!

And here are three black keys together. They're triplets!

One, two, three! Triplets!

Now, here's my favorite piano trick. Let's find middle C!

First, find the two black keys in the middle of the piano. The twins!

Now, look at the white key just to the left of the twins.

That's middle C!

Twos and threes, twos and threes, all the way across the piano!

Middle C is like home base for piano players.

Here's a secret. Every pair of twins has a C, just to its left!

I counted five C's!

You're doing great! Now, sit back and listen to a little piano song. It starts on middle C.

You did it! You heard low sounds and high sounds, you found the twins and the triplets, and you found middle C!

Hooray! High five, Ivy!

Can you remember?

How many black keys are in the twins?

Where do the low, deep sounds live?

Which white key is just to the left of the twins, in the middle of the piano?

You did it!

Next time, we'll learn the names of all the white keys.

Keep practicing, friends. See you at the piano! Bye-bye!

Made with love by a Nana and her grandkids, with help from the bots of Botsville USA.