Sharps, Flats, Naturals, and Enharmonic notes

When a Sharp or Flat is added to a note it raises or lowers the note by a Half-step. For example, if we have the note C and we add a sharp to it the note now becomes C-sharp. If we have the note E and we add a flat to it the note now becomes E-flat.

Here are some examples of sharps and flats on the staff:

Naturals are notes without sharps or flats: C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. For example the note D can be called D-natural because it has no sharp or flat.

Here are the natural notes:

Natural notes sometimes have their own symbol attached to them:

Enharmonic notes:

Enharmonic notes are notes that have the same pitch but have different note spellings. For example, F-sharp and G-flat are enharmonic notes, as are C-flat and B-natural.

See how sharps and flats are arranged on a keyboard

Review the staff and the note names

The Keyboard

The Keyboard is arranged so that the pitch goes left to right, low to high. The keys on keyboard instruments are arranged in a reoccurring pattern. The black keys are arranged in groups of two and three between the white keys.

This pattern continues up and down the keyboard.

The note names of the white keys are:

This key pattern repeats on the keyboard so that the note names of the white keys keep repeating: CDEFGAB-CDEFGAB-CDEFGAB and so on.

Sharps and Flats:

If we take a white key, D for example, and we go up (to the right) to the adjacent black key we are now on the note D-sharp. If we go down (to the left) to the adjacent black key from D we end up on the note D-flat. This is how we determine the names of the black keys and therefore all black keys will be a sharp or flat note.

You may have noticed that black keys can have more than one note name. For example C-sharp and D-flat are on the same black key, but which name we should use depends upon context, such as the Key Signature.

Half-steps and Whole-steps:

A Half-step is the distance of two adjacent notes, such as D to D-sharp, E to F, or A-flat to G. (A half-step is also known as a minor second.)

A Whole-step is the distance of two Half-steps, such as C to D, E to F-sharp, or B-flat to A-flat. (A whole-step is also known as a Major second.)

Learn about reading music

Alto and Tenor Clefs

(You might want to read about the Staff before you read about the Alto and Tenor Clefs.)

The Alto and Tenor Clefs have two curves that meet in the center. The line on the staff where these curves meet is the note C. These clefs are also called C Clefs for this reason.

The Alto Clef is positioned on the middle line. This line becomes the note C. (This note is also Middle C.)

The note names in Alto Clef are:

Tenor Clef is very similar to Alto Clef but the main difference is that the Tenor Clef is positioned on the second line from the top whereas Alto Clef is positioned on the middle line. In Tenor Clef the second line from the top becomes the note C. (This is also Middle C, just like in Alto Clef.) The note names in Tenor Clef are:

Learn about the Treble and Bass Clefs

The Staff, Treble Clef and Bass Clef

Music is most commonly notated using the Staff (and tablature.) The staff consists of five horizontal lines on which musical notes lie. The lines and the spaces between the lines represent different pitches. Lower pitches are lower on the staff and higher pitches are higher on the staff.With the blank staff we can't yet tell what notes to play. We use Clefs to tell us which notes correspond to which lines or spaces. The most common clefs are the Treble Clef (also known as the G Clef) and the Bass Clef (or F Clef).

The Treble Clef spirals around the second line from the bottom. This spiral tells us that notes on this line are G.

From here we can figure out the other note names simply by going forward or backward through the musical alphabet: A,B,C,D,E,F,G.

If we need more notes above or below the staff we add Ledger Lines, which extend the range of the staff. (Middle C is the first ledger line below the staff in Treble Clef.)

The Bass Clef has two dots, above and below the second line from the top. The dots tell us that this line is F.

The note names in Bass Clef are:

Middle C is the first ledger line above the staff in Bass Clef.

Learn about the Alto and Tenor Clefs