Numbers
Each number tells you how many keys of the current color to count before the rule moves on.
Starting point
Why the traditional model feels harder on piano
Tone and semitone formulas are musically valid, and they offer a formal universal definition that can be applied across instruments. But when the instrument is specifically the piano, that abstraction offers no practical advantage: students still have to translate interval math onto a keyboard that is not visually uniform. That creates friction exactly where beginners need clarity.
How This method works
A piano method built around what the keyboard actually looks like.
Instead of forcing beginners to think first in tones and semitones, Piano CC starts from what the hands and eyes already perceive: white keys, black keys, intersections, and repeatable movement patterns.
Rule 1: Navigability
E-F and B-C define how navigation works on the keyboard. This rule exists before any specific scale or mode is considered.
Rule 2: Mode formula
Each mode adds its own formula, which can also request a color change. This creates a second source of movement on top of keyboard navigation.
Rule 3: Exception
When the keyboard navigation rule and the mode formula ask for change at the same moment, both changes cancel and the same color continues.
Mode navigation
The modal rule
The first core idea is simple: move through keys of the same color and skip the opposite color. This makes the pattern tactile, visual, and easier to repeat from different roots.
A modal rule is written as numbers plus optional CC (color change) markers. Numbers tell you how many same-color keys to count from the current color, while CC tells you when to switch color. The navigation rule never turns off, so both rules are always applied at the same time.
Color change
CC means change color on the next move, toward the nearest opposite-color key.
Always together
The navigation rule still applies at intersections, so keyboard crossings and modal instructions must be applied together.
First modal example
A modal rule can be as simple as 6.
This hexatonic whole-tone example is the most basic modal case. The rule only tells you how many notes to count, while every color change still comes from the navigation rule.
Hexatonic whole-tone: 6 Result: C D E F♯ G♯ A♯
- 1 Start on C and count white keys through D and E.
- 2 Crossing E-F triggers the navigation rule , so the line changes color and lands on F♯.
- 3 Continue counting black keys through G♯ and A♯ to complete the six-note pattern.
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
C♯
D♯
F♯
G♯
A♯
C♯
D♯
Count three notes, change color, and repeat the same gesture.
A real example
D Major (Ionian) adds a CC to the formula.
This is the first full modal example. The first color change comes from the navigation rule, the next one comes from the modal rule, and the pattern then reaches the octave through that same interaction.
D Major (Ionian): 3 CC 3 CC Result: D E F♯ G A B C♯ D
1 Start on white with D and E.
2 Crossing E-F activates the navigation rule , so the first CC comes from the keyboard and the third note becomes F♯.
3 After F♯, the modal rule adds the next CC and moves back to white at G. Continue through A and B.
4 Crossing B-C activates the navigation rule again, so the last CC produces C♯ before returning to D.
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
C♯
D♯
F♯
G♯
A♯
C♯
D♯
Count three notes, change color, and repeat the same gesture.
The exception
C Major (Ionian) shows the exception.
Here the modal rule and the navigation rule ask for CC at the same moment. Instead of changing color twice, both requests cancel and the path stays on the same color.
C Major (Ionian): 3 CC 3 CC Result: C D E F G A B C
1 Start on white and count C, D, and E.
2 At E-F, the modal rule asks for CC and the navigation rule also asks for CC at the same moment, so both changes cancel and F stays white.
3 Continue on white through G, A, and B until the octave returns to C, because both rules collided and cancelled.
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
C♯
D♯
F♯
G♯
A♯
C♯
D♯
Count three notes, change color, and repeat the same gesture.
The method in four moves
1
Count same-color keys.
2
Watch for E-F and B-C intersections.
3
Apply CC when the mode formula requires it.
4
If formula CC and intersection CC happen together, keep the same color.
Next step
See the method inside real mode definitions.
Once the rule system and worked examples make sense, the clearest next move is to explore how each mode behaves across different root notes. If you already want to take it straight to the keyboard, go to Playground.