What Are Sharps And Flats In Music

If you look at a piano, you will see white keys and black keys

. The white keys have letter names assigned to them from A - G repeated over and over. The black keys represent sharps or flats. Where does this come from?

It comes from a concept called the Chromatic Scale:

A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A

This is also known as a 1/2 step or half-tone scale because the interval, or distance between each note is equal to 1/2 step. All a piano (or a keyboard) is is a chromatic scale repeated over and over.

All a sharp (#) does is raise a note 1/2 step. A flat (b) lowers a note 1/2 step. B to C and E to F are known as natural half steps. Whether one calls a note a sharp or flat depends on whether you are raising a note 1/2 step, or lowering a note 1/2 step. If you are raising an "A" 1/2 step, you are left with A#. If you are lowering a "B" 1/2 step, you have a Bb. They are THE SAME NOTE tone-wise, but what you call it depends on the context.

You also need to understand that because of the definition of a sharp (which is to raise a tone 1/2 step), if I wanted to , I could call a "B" an A## (raise an A 2 "1./2 steps"), or an "A" Bbb (lower a B 2 "1/2 steps"). In fact, if I wanted to (I wouldn't), I could call a "G" an A##########. You do occasionally see double sharps or flats, but not really more than that.

All music is played in what are called "keys" - a short definition of which is merely to say that it is a logical collection of notes. A key can have any number of sharps or flats (theoretically), or none at all. Furthermore, a key will never mix sharps and flats. If there are any sharps or flats, it will either be all sharps (a sharp key), or all flats (a flat key). Any additional sharp, flat, or natural sign (which takes away any previously existing sharp or flat) is considered to be accidental to the key - hence the name "accidental".

by: James Emery Vigh

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