1. Simple Guide For Beginners - Sharps, Flats And Basic Key Signatures On Piano and Keyboard
Explained
If all we had to worry about as pianists were the white keys life would be a beach! But to play great
sounding tunes sooner or later you are going to need to start playing on the black keys too.
You have FIVE BLACK notes on the piano, which repeat, just like the white notes do.
They are called SHARPS and FLATS, depending on which direction you are travelling up the Piano and
what KEY SIGNATURE your music is in.
If read as SHARPS, they will be C# D# F# G# A#, and if read as FLATS they will be Db Eb Gb Ab Bb.
If your sheet music asks you to find a SHARP, then always remember that SHARPS are to the RIGHT
of a white Note.
If your music asks you to find a FLAT, then always remember that FLATS are to the LEFT of a white
Note.
When learning piano from sheet music, you may start to notice that you have the sharp or flat
symbol at the start of a piece of music, near where your clef and time signature will sit. This is to
indicate that whatever line or space the sharps or flats are sat on in your score, you have to play as a
black note and not a white note.
There are other key signatures, in which you will come across and these will be noticeable more so
in intermediate and advanced pieces of music.
As a general rule, whenever you come across sharps or flats at the start of a piece of music, look
which line or space they are on in your score, and then work out which notes they are from this.
For example you may have a piece of music with two sharps at the start, and they are on the F and C
line. So this is telling you that any F notes or C notes you come across in your music need to be
played as sharps.
Another example could be that you have two flats at the start of your music, and they are on the B
and E line. This is now indicating to you that every B and E you come across they will need to be
played as a B flat and an E flat.
As you have discovered from learning to play piano you have five black keys. This will always be the
maximum amount of sharps or flats you will have in any one piece of music.
Some composers change the key signature half way through a song or at the end of a song
sometimes to pick the song up, but it's only something that happens occasionally and you will
recognise the change and be notified of this on your score.

2. If you were wondering what happens if your music wants to revert back to a white note, but your
key signature is stating at the start of a piece of music that you need to play, for example F SHARPS
throughout, this is indicated by the use of a natural sign. This will only be used in that bar, and will
have a symbol to indicate this. You can find symbols of how this looks on the internet.
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