In this easy piano lesson, we take a look at the topic, “Piano Keys and Notes for Beginners – Sharps and Flats”. If you’re an absolute beginner learning the notes that correspond to the keys of the piano, you should find this lesson very valuable. The following is a video transcript and you may watch the video below.
Hello once again. It’s Mantius Cazaubon of www.Piano-Keyboard-Guide.com and I just want to give you a little tip about something which beginners especially often find confusing. They don’t realize that there can be an E sharp (E#), a B sharp (B#), an F flat (Fb) and a C flat (Cb). Let me tell you this: Every note can be either sharp or flat. So there’s Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb and Gb. There’s also A#, B#, C#, D#, E#, F# and G#.
On your keyboard, how would you play B#? Sharp simply means to play the key to the immediate right of a key. So if I tell you to play B#, you’ll be playing the same as the C key on your keyboard. What if I tell you to play C flat? Flat simply means, in simple terms, to play the key to the left of a key, so if I tell you C flat, you’ll be playing the key, B on your keyboard. Notes and keys are not the same. Okay? So don’t let it confuse you. Any note can be sharp or flat.
Here’s the video.
Piano Keys and Notes for Beginners – Sharps and Flats – Easy Lesson
As you learn music theory, you will realize how basic this really is. So just think of playing what is called a “half step” higher. If you see A#, it means to play the note which is a half step higher than A. So you play the key that is immediately after A. That’s all it means. This is a black key. If you see B# all it means is to play a note that is a half step higher than B. So you play the key that is immediately after B. On your keyboard it’s the same as C, in terms of the key that is played. But it’s not really C. In practice, you’re playing the same key, but in theory it’s a different note.
As I said, notes and keys are not the same. The same key can play different notes. So if I tell you to play Cb (C flat), you will be playing the same key that is used to play B. In theory, you are playing Cb, but in practice, you’re pressing the same key on your instrument and it sounds the same. All C flat really means is to play the note that is a semitone or half step lower than C. Another word for half step is “semitone”. So play a half step lower.
White keys can be sharp or flat just like black keys are either sharp or flat. Or to put it better, white keys can play notes that are sharp or flat, just like black keys play notes that are either sharp or flat.
So this was just a short video where we took a look at sharps and flats, a topic I find very interesting. I hope you got some value out of it.
To learn more about the notes of the piano keyboard and musical notes in general, check out this page.
End of “Piano Keys and Notes for Beginners – Sharps and Flats – Easy Lesson“.