• There are 2 main parts of the piano keyboardpiano image by Sergey Goruppa from Fotolia.com
  
  The piano keyboard has two parts: the "treble" cleft part that is above middle C, and the "bass" cleft part that is below middle C. Middle C, as the name suggests, is in the center of the keyboard. The average piano keyboard has 88 keys. A Bosendorfer piano keyboard has 97. (see ref 1)
  
  

Treble Cleft

• The treble cleft section of the piano is to the right of middle C. In piano music treble cleft is represented by a symbol which resembles a stylized cursive "S" with the treble cleft staff lines written above the bass cleft lines. The notes on this part of the piano have an increasingly higher tone the further to the right you go up the keyboard. There are about four octaves from middle C to high A (ref 1) in this section. An octave is a set of eight notes. For instance, from F to F, is an octave. The notes include F-G-A-B-C-E-F.
  
  

Bass Cleft

• The notes to the left of middle C are the bass cleft notes. The bass cleft is the second part of the piano keyboard. This section starts at middle C and goes down in tone to a low C on the left of the keyboard. In piano music, these notes are represented on staff music headed by the bass symbol which looks like an elongated c with a colon immediately to the right of it.
  
  

Black and White Keys

• The modern piano keyboard usually consists of 88 keys in all,(ref 1) which includes black and white keys. The white keys are "natural" keys and the black keys are for playing flats and sharps. For instance, if you want to play G sharp or E flat, you must use a black key. Thus, in one octave there are actually 12 tones which could be played in all, if you include the black keys.