Learning the Piano: Lesson 4 - Black Keys (Sharps and Flats)

Learning the Piano: Lesson 4 - Black Keys (Sharps and Flats)

Nathan Cheng
How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons, Norman Monath

The next step in the journey of learning a piano is to learn about the intricacies of of sharps and flats. The sharp/flat notes are located on the black keys of the piano. Having no name themselves, their titles are derived from their surrounding notes (Monath 49). For instance, a black key in between the A and B notes would be interchangeably called A sharp or B flat.

Note how the black keys have two names-- One denoting a half-step down (flat) from the higher note and one denoting a half-step up (Sharp) from the lower note

Consequentially, sharps and flats have their own symbols in sheet music to let the musician know to play a note either sharp, flat, or natural (to not be sharp or flat).

Symbols from left to right: sharp, flat, natural

Also, a composer may want a note in an entire song to be flatted or sharped, so they may write instructions in the key signature. When referring to these unique key signatures Norman Monath writes, "The most commonly used key signatures you will come across... are the following seven" (Monath 52). The graphic that illustrates what he means is below.

Seven most common key signatures

With all this in mind, Monath provides examples of different renditions of songs in different key signatures. This indicates to the student that while the renditions contain different notes, they have the same sound in relation to each other.

Renditions of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"

One of my attempts at the different renditions

All in all, I think that the addition of black keys into my knowledge of the piano will help me in learning more complex songs. It was quite fun to play music with the same rhythm with different notes but still have the same result of a familiar melody. My question is, have you ever committed yourself to doing something that requires a lot of patience to master?

Monath, Norman. How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons. Simon & Schuster, 1994.