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Most beginners will start with ones that utilize all the white keys, such as C Major, and then move to others like D Major, E Major, etc. Major Scale – a scale, known as a pattern of both whole steps and half steps, that contains all of the tones of any major key played in order of lowest to highest or the highest to lowest.A whole-step being twice as big, and is played notes like C to D, or E# to F#. Half Step / Whole Step – this is demonstrated as the distance between one note to the other, with the half step being the smaller distance (notes right next to each other, with half notes), such as C to C# and E to E#.Arpeggio – this is known as a broken chord, where scales contain the notes of a key, arpeggios contain the notes of a chord.Chord – this is 3 or more notes that are played at the same time to create a fuller sound.Treble / Bass Clef – these show you which hand you are playing with, everything on the treble staff is played with the right hand, and in the bass clef, is played with the left hand.When playing a piece of music the first thing you need to know is what key signature that you are playing in. Key Signature – any combinations of sharps or flats after the clef at the beginning in your sheet music, indicating the key of a composition.Starting with the most basic and well-known musical terms for piano, here is a short description of each: Here we will outline some of the basic music terminology and lingo that anyone learning the piano should know. There are many common musical terms that every musician should be familiar with. Learning your instrument in-depth this way is almost like taking on a new language.
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