For TEACHERS - Free Key Maps for the Piano

Available Articles - The dozen articles listed below are intended to help teachers (and anyone else who is interested) become acquainted with the Key Maps for Piano notation -- and provide useful information that will aid in evaluating the key maps and related materials. Links for viewing and downloading all articles are located at the bottom of this page. (These articles are NOT lessons on how to play the piano. Piano lessons are found at the above "Piano METHODS" link.)

KMA-00 - Intro to Key Diagram and Key Map Pitch Notation - 22 pages - This article provides a basic explanation of the key map pitch notation. The article begins with a vertical line representing a black key and circles and ovals indicating what key to play. The explanation proceeds from there step by step with flash cards showing the way. The flash cards show how the entire keyboard can be represented with only 5 note positions for black keys and 7 note positions for white keys - matching the 5 black keys and 7 white keys in each of the 7 "octave groups" of the keyboard (the 12 keys from C to B). (This article is an exact duplicate of Unit PK-00 in our Basic Keyboard Course.)

KMA-05 - Why Key Maps for Piano Work So Well - 24 pages - This article begins by showing in some detail how the keyboard is ingeniously designed to make it possible to find and play music at the lightning speeds that are often required. Then the focus turns to showing how well the key maps match that design and contribute to player's ability to find keys at the required speeds. Profusely illustrated in full color.

KMA-10 - About Beginning Piano Study With Key Maps - 36 pages - This article begins by covering some of the same ground covered in article KMA-05, emphasizing the role of the incredible design of the keyboard. The present article then goes on to compare the key maps with the grand staff, demonstrating how much easier the key maps are to learn and read. It provides comparisons of how the 12 key positions on the key maps replace the 88 key positions of the grand staff. Key maps have notes for black keys, but the grand staff has no notes dedicated to the black keys. The grand staff uses an incredibly complex series of #, b, ##, and bb codes to modify the natural notes before they can identify which keys to play. Profusely illustrated in full color.

KMA-20 - Conceptual Basis of Key Maps for Piano - 24 pages - This article provides a detailed look at the design concepts that brought the key map notation to life. The focus begins with the design of the keyboard and how it provided the conceptual basis for the key map notation. Additional details are provided along with a number of musical examples.

KMA - Advantages of Key Maps Illustrated - 10 pages - This article presents impassioned arguments for using the key maps as a practical matter because of how much better suited they are to showing which keys to play and when to play them. Illustrated with a number of musical examples.

KMA - Case for Key Maps, The - 38 pages - This article presents an extensive case for using keys maps, including a number of comparisons with the grand staff. Profusely illustrated.

KMA - Colors of Notes on Key Maps Explained - 10 pages - Note coloring is one of the major tools used by key maps both to make them easier to read and to make them pleasant to look at. This article shows and explains how color is used by means of a number of musical examples.

KMA - File Names and Versions Explained - 6 pages - This article will be helpful for anyone using our musical materials.

KMA - Key Maps Compared With Key Diagrams - 12 pages - This article includes a detailed explanation of the sizing and spacing of the notes in these 2 formats. (Important information!) We use similar but different formats for these 2 notations. The key diagrams, usually used for beginners, have large notes, and color coded rhythm. The key maps, with smaller notes and rhythm on a timeline, provide our main notation format. This article observes in detail, the similarities and differences between these two formats. Profusely illustrated.

KMA - Piano Keyboard Master Chart - 12 Pages - This unit is actually not an article but a 4 page chart of the keyboard that needs to be assembled from the pages provided. It makes a large chart 4 pages wide when assembled. It shows all 88 keys of the keyboard along with matching notes for all of the keys. The notes are for the key diagrams, key maps, and grand staff all arranged in 3 rows so that they can be compared. Chart is in full color.

KMA - Pitch Notations Compared: The Grand Staff vs Key Diagrams - 10 pages - This article compares the 2 notations using several diagrams in full color. The text discusses the similarities and differences of the 2 notations.

MIW-10 - Intro to the Music Innovators Workshop - 28 pages - This article introduces you to our workshop and the several products that we have been working on, including the key maps notation.