The course › Unit 7: Sharps, flats and intervals

Sharp, flat, natural

Lesson 38 of 72 · The names of the black keys, and how they’re written

In this lesson, you will:

• Understand the sharp (♯), the flat (♭) and the natural (♮)
• Give each black key both of its names (C♯ = D♭)
• Read and play sharps and flats on the staff

1. Learn: Sharps and flats

The black keys are named after their white neighbors, with a sign added:

• A sharp ♯ raises a note by a half step. C♯ (“C sharp”) is the key just to the right of C.
• A flat ♭ lowers a note by a half step. B♭ (“B flat”) is the key just to the left of B.

With sharps: each black key, seen from the white key to its left.

With flats: the same keys, seen from the white key to their right.

So each black key has two names: C♯ = D♭, F♯ = G♭… These notes are called enharmonic. Which name you use depends on the piece: you’ll see why when you get to scales.

2. Practice: One key, two names

Play the key asked for, in any octave. A sharp: just to the right of the white key. A flat: just to the left.

3. Learn: On the staff

On the staff, the sharp or flat is written just before the note, on the same line or in the same space. It’s called an accidental.

An accidental lasts for the whole measure: later notes at the same pitch keep it until the bar line. To cancel it sooner, you write a natural sign ♮: the note goes back to normal.

Measure 1: the 2nd F♯ doesn’t need a sign. Measure 2: after the bar line, F is natural again. Measure 3: the natural sign brings back B natural.

Did you know?: The ♭ sign began as a rounded letter b, and the ♮ sign as a square b: in the Middle Ages, these two ways of writing the letter b marked the two versions of the note B, a lower one and a higher one.

Why this way: You learn each black key in relation to its white neighbors, which you already know: that sticks much better than memorizing names on their own. And today’s practice will bring these notes back at the right moment, so you keep them.

4. Practice: Read the accidentals

Play the written note at its exact place. Look carefully at the sign in front of the note!

5. Quiz: Two names for one key

• C♯ and D♭ are…
• What’s another name for F♯?
• What’s another name for B♭?
• A flat ♭…
• A natural ♮…
• What is this note called?

6. Guided play: A melody with accidentals

Read at your own pace. Follow the accidentals carefully: a sign lasts until the bar line, and a natural sign cancels it.

7. Piece: Greensleeves

Greensleeves, an English song from the Renaissance, with its G♯s and an F♯: black keys right in the middle of the melody. It’s in 3/4, with a pickup and dotted quarter notes: everything you’ve learned! Right hand, starting on a pickup (A).

To practice

• Greensleeves: A melody in A minor, with G♯
• The Andalusian cadence: Your first black key: A minor – G – F – E

← Lesson 37: Half steps and whole steps Lesson 39: Intervals, from the 2nd to the octave →