In the previous blog posts, we explored only the white keys on your keyboard. Now, we look at sharps and flats in music and the black keys on your keyboard which represent these notes. We’ll start incorporating the black keys in some of the melodies going forward in this series.

Let’s start by identifying the A note which you are familiar with – locate the 3 consecutive black keys, go to the middle one, and proceed to the white key on its right. The black key to the right of A is the A# (A sharp), and the black key to the left of A is the Ab (A flat). Sharp to the right, flat to the left, for easy recollection.

An easy way to visualise these keys is like a staircase – going up the staircase would be a sharp, and going down the staircase would be a flat. The other concept you need to understand is half steps and whole steps. Going from A to A# (the black key to its immediate right) is a half-step, whereas going from A to B (the white key to its right by crossing the black key first) is a whole step. Basically, one whole step is equivalent to two half steps.

There’s another music term associated with this, that is tone and semi-tone. This is nothing but the whole step and half-step that we just learnt. To play a sharp, go one semi-tone to the right; to play a flat, go one semi-tone to the left. Locate the middle C and go one tone to the right to D, then one semi-tone further to the right to D#. Once again go to D, and play one semi-tone to the left for a Db.

Practise this using the other notes in a random manner – for example go to G, and play Gb and G#. There are two keys where you could potentially get stuck or confused. One is E and the other is C. Try playing E#. Because of the way the keys are arranged, E# is not a black key, but the white key next to E, and it is the same as note F. This is true for the C key as well.

Experiment with these to gain more clarity on identifying sharps and flats. In the next blog post, we will look at an important piece of information – the C scale on the keyboard. Practise what you have learnt so far, and continue reading to expand your knowledge of playing the keyboard.