Recently we were asked a question about keyboards/digital pianos with fewer than 88 keys, and which notes are missing.
It’s a really interesting question and one I honestly hadn’t considered before, even though I grew up playing an 88-key acoustic upright piano, bought 61-key and 49-key keyboards and synths, and then moved to full-size digital pianos.
The Issue
A full sized acoustic or digital piano typically has 88 keys — just over seven octaves. Smaller digital pianos and keyboards may have 76, 73, 61 or some other number of keys.
Which part of the full range of 88 keys do these reduced range keyboards occupy? Or to put it another way, which keys are taken away?
Keyboard Range
As far as I can tell, there is no universal answer to this question. Different manufacturers may construct their keyboards with alternative ranges.
Modern specification sheets aren’t always much help, either. They tell you the number of keys but they rarely tell you the note range itself.
A traditional 88-key digital piano keyboard takes a range from A0 (bottom A) to C8 (top C). The octave number increases at every C key.
Keyboards with a smaller range of keys tend to remove a similar number of keys from each side, therefore they take a near central range. That’s because most pieces of music favour the central range of notes over the lower and upper extremes.
Here are typical (but not universal) note ranges for many keyboards.
The “Lower/Upper Removed” column shows how many keys are absent below and above the smaller keyboard range.
The range runs from A0 and counts up, adding one to the number every time a C is reached — white notes are A0, B0, C1, D1, E1, F1, G1, A1, B1, C2, D2 and so on.
| Keys | Octaves | Range | Lower/Upper Removed |
| 88 | 7 + 3 notes | A0-C8 | 0 |
| 76 | 6 + 3 notes | E1-G7 | 7/5 |
| 73 | 6 | E1-E7 | 7/8 |
| 61 | 5 | C2-C7 | 15/12 |
| 49 | 4 | C2-C6 | 15/24 |
This arrangement means that middle C continues to be roughly central on the keyboard.
Keyboard History
Viewed through a modern lens, it’s easy to think the 88-key full-size piano keyboard has always been around, and by extension, that composers had full access to the range.
In reality, keyboard instruments from around the late 18th century such as harpsichords, clavichords and early pianos only had four or five octaves (49 to 61 keys), gradually expanding to six octaves (73 keys).
In the mid-19th century, keyboard range extended up to 6½ or 7 octaves, with the full 88-key pianos coming onto the scene towards the turn of the 19th to 20th century.
Apart from tonal considerations, this is why a lot of earlier classical music from composers including Mozart, Bach and Beethoven could only utilise a smaller range of notes.
Using All 88 Keys is Rare
At an educated guess, well under one percent of composed music uses the full 88 piano keys. The extreme notes, if used at all, are done sparingly for embellishment, impact and colour rather than for the core composition.
The typical range in more modern genres such as pop and rock, as well as jazz and film scoring, still tends to stick around five octaves. More experimental music may push to the extremes.
What this means is that most pieces of music can be played either entirely, or with minimal alteration or loss of notes, even on a five octave keyboard, with even most classical piano music playable on instruments with 73 or 76 keys.
Transposition
Most modern keyboards and digital pianos have a transposition feature. This not only allows for altering the key signature, but usually allows for full octave shifts (up or down in multiples of 12 semitones).
While this doesn’t expand the range of a keyboard (a 61 key instrument can still only play notes from a five octave range simultaneously*) it does allow for the entire range to be shifted up or down if required.
*Not including keyboard splits.
Keyboard Feel and Dynamics
Another factor to consider is that smaller keyboards often have a lighter keyboard feel, and possibly alter the dynamic range of notes playable.
61 key instruments often have organ/synth style keys, with larger keyboards having either semi-weighted or fully weighted keys.
How to Choose the Right Key Weight For Your Keyboard Instrument
Conclusion
While an 88 key piano is often considered the gold standard, many pianists can happily play and perform using instruments with a smaller keyboard range.
It depends on several factors including what types of music they want to play, size constraints, portability, keyboard feel, and price.
