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Lesson 6

Accidentals

Sharps raise, flats lower, naturals cancel.

The in-between notes

The musical alphabet is A through G, but the piano has black keys between most of them. Accidentals name those pitches. A sharp (♯) raises a note one semitone. A flat (♭) lowers it one semitone. A natural (♮) cancels a sharp or flat that would otherwise apply.

F♯
F sharp — the note on the top space, raised.
B♭
B flat — the middle line, lowered.

F♯ and G♭ are the same piano key (enharmonic spelling) but they are written differently because the letter still matters for keys and intervals.

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