Lesson 17: Musical Notation – Sharps
Category: Lessons, Music Theory
So far we have introduced the concept of note names and found out where they are located on the piano keyboard. Well, you may have noticed that we only covered the white keys! You might be happy to know that a whole other world of keys exists for you to discover. OK, you might not be so happy to know that. But the black keys on the piano also play an important function. In this lesson we will learn how to name the black keys.
So – remember our piano key names: A,B,C,D,E,F,G. There are a group of two black keys and a group of 3 black keys.
First I’ll introduce the concept of a SHARP. Have you ever heard someone comment on a piece of music, saying it was a little sharp? This means that it was played at a HIGHER PITCH. In musical notation, a sharp symbol is placed in front of a note to tell the musician to play on the key located UP one SEMITONE. In Western music, a SEMITONE is the smallest step located on the keyboard – either between a black key and a white key, or between two different white keys. On the keyboard located in this post, can you find a semitone located between two white keys?
OK, so when you see the SHARP symbol in front of a note, instead of playing the note – play the NEXT NOTE TO THE RIGHT. That is, play the key that is ONE SEMITONE HIGHER. This could be a black key, or it could be a white key. If you want some practice naming sharps you can download the worksheet from this section from the worksheets section.
Try to find F#, C#, G#, D#, and A#. And when you have mastered that – find E# and B#. The frequency with which these sharps are used in a piece of music depends on the KEY of the music. We will cover this concept in a future lesson. Please mosey on over to the download section when you have a chance and practice a bit!
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Posted on February 8th, 2009 by sharlene
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February 19th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
[...] 3 types of accidentals: SHARPS, FLATS, and NATURALS. Each of them has a different purpose. A SHARP accidental is used within a piece of music to RAISE the pitch of the note by one semitone. A FLAT [...]