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There are 88 keys on a piano. White piano keys are called naturals because they make a natural note when pressed. Black piano keys are called accidentals because they make a sharp or flat note when pressed. There are 7 naturals on the keyboard: C-D-E-F-G-A-B There are 5 accidentals per octave and they can either be sharp or flat. Learn the names of the left-hand and right-hand staff: bass clef and treble clef Since you don't have a teacher, let instructional books be your guide. There are many books available in both specialty music stores and regular book stores that will take you through a step-by-step process of learning how to read music, play basic scales, chord progressions and then simple songs. Utilize multimedia tools such as DVDs. YouTube videos also are a valuable source. If you are a visual learner, these tools will suit you well because you can see the music being played correctly. You will need to learn where the notes are located on the piano, what they sound like and how the note is written on the staff. To do that, you can make flash cards to identify the notes on the staff. You can purchase stickers to place on your piano to help you learn the placement of the notes. You also can purchase books that help beginners learn how to read notes. Familiarize yourself with common chords. Start with the chords in majors. Then follow with the minors. Use the instructional books to help you learn how to play the notes. Playing the notes with the correct fingers is just as important as learning where the notes are located. If you don't practice using the correct method, then you'll have trouble playing up and down the scales. Playing scales helps you familiarize yourself with the notes and the sound of them. If you are learning how to sight read, playing music while you sight read helps you learn where the notes are located and what they look like on the staff. Play the scales for each hand one at a time. Then play them together. Using your instructional books, go through the lessons. They will teach you to play easy songs as well as mastering finger placement. Practicing with easy songs also helps you to memorize where the notes are located, which improves your sight reading abilities. Start with C major. Then, work your way through the minor keys, so that you can familiarize yourself with them. When you're practicing a piece of music, try to play the melody and bass lines for each hand separately at first. Once your playing of each improves, then practice playing them together. Learning to play the piano requires a lot of practice. Play with sheet music to get better at sight reading, fingering and playing. Plan on practicing about 3 to 4 times a week for about a half hour. Don't move on to the next lesson until you've mastered the previous lesson.

Summary:
Learn some basic piano knowledge. Use instructional books. Study the notes. Learn finger placement. Practice playing scales. Learn some easy songs. Practice, practice, practice.