Introducing Sharps and Flats

Introduction to Sharps and Flats

So far, we've been working only with the white keys on the piano, also known as naturals. Now, we're going to look at the black keys, which we refer to as sharps and flats.

Understanding Sharps and Flats

• Sharps are represented on the stave by a number sign (‚ôØ) or a little hash sign.
• Flats look like a little B (b).

Example on the Keyboard

If we look at the keyboard, I'll give you an example of what each of those looks like:

• C: This note is a C.

• C‚ôØ: If I go to the note directly to the right, this is a C sharp.

  • Remember: If you step on something sharp, you jump up, and on the piano, we're moving up a semitone.

• D: We know that this note is D.

• Db: The note directly to the left is D flat.

  • Remember: When a tire is flat, it moves down towards the ground, so we are moving down by a semitone.

Enharmonic Equivalents

I already know what you're thinking: How in the world is this note both C sharp and D flat? The answer is that they are enharmonic equivalents.

You don't need to remember that big fancy word; just remember:

• When you're moving to a black note on the right, it's going to be A sharp (from here to here).
• When you're moving to a black note on the left, it will be A flat (from here to here).

Sharps and Flats with White Keys

There are also some places where we have white keys that are named flats and sharps. This occurs when there is no black key in between two white keys:

• Between E and F
• Between B and C

Notes Related to Sharps and Flats

• If you were to ask me what E sharp is, I would tell you that it's this note (the note above E).

  • Reason: We are moving up a semitone.

• Similarly, if you asked me about F flat, I would move down to this note (the note below F).

  • Reason: We are moving down a semitone.

Conclusion

We'll have a look at using sharps and flats in a song in our performance piece a bit later on.