Accidentals

Lesson 4 of 8 · ~6 min · Interactive

So far we’ve only played the white keys. The five black keys in every octave get their names from their neighbors, using symbols called accidentals: the sharp ♯, the flat ♭, and the natural ♮. Master these and you can name every one of the piano’s 88 keys.

1.Sharps ♯

A sharp raises a note by one half step. Start on C and move to the black key just to its right - that’s C♯. On the staff, the ♯ symbol is written just before the note head (but we say it after: “C sharp”).

2.Flats ♭

A flat is the mirror image: it lowers a note by one half step. Start on B and move to the black key just to its left - that’s B♭. Every black key can be reached from either side, which is why each one has two names.

3.Naturals ♮

The natural sign cancels a sharp or flat and returns the note to its plain white-key self. If a measure has an F♯ and you want plain F again, you write F♮. An accidental lasts until the end of its measure - the natural is how you switch it off early.

4.Enharmonics: one key, two names

C♯ and D♭ are the same black key - the same sound with two different spellings. Notes like this are called enharmonic equivalents. Which name you use depends on musical context (you’ll see why in the Scales and Keys lessons). Tap the black keys and note both names:

5.Practice: find the black keys

Labels off! Find each sharp or flat on the keyboard. Remember: sharp = one half step right, flat = one half step left. Either spelling of the same key counts.