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Black keys on the piano
The black keys are the sharps and flats, and there are 36 on a full size piano. Each one sits between two white keys and can be called by either name: the key between C and D is C sharp or D flat depending on the music. They are grouped in twos and threes so you can find your way around by touch and by eye.
Click any key to hear it. Your computer's A to K row works too.
What is the difference between a sharp and a flat?
A sharp raises a note by one semitone, which usually means the black key immediately to the right. A flat lowers it by one, usually the black key immediately to the left. The same black key therefore has two names. Which one gets used depends on the key of the piece, and it sounds identical either way, so do not let the two names slow you down at this stage.
Why do some black keys have two names?
Because written music spells notes by letter as well as by pitch. A scale uses each letter once, in order, so F major has to call that black key B flat rather than A sharp, otherwise the letter A would appear twice and B not at all. It is a spelling rule, not a sound rule.
Are there black keys between every white key?
No, and this is the part that surprises people. There is no black key between E and F, or between B and C. Those pairs of white keys are already only a semitone apart. That gap is exactly why the black keys fall into groups of two and three rather than being evenly spread.
When will I first need a black key?
Later than you expect. Twinkle, Twinkle, Ode to Joy and most first pieces use none at all. Für Elise uses one, a D sharp, in its very first bar, which is part of why it sounds more grown up than the tunes around it.
Keep going
Read next
A piano has 88 keys, 52 white and 36 black, repeating one pattern of twelve. Find any note Open → ♪ Where is middle C on the piano?
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Put it into practice in the practice room, or start at the beginning with the five minute walkthrough.
Questions
Common questions
How many black keys are on a piano?
Thirty six on a full size 88 key piano, arranged in alternating groups of two and three.
Is C sharp the same as D flat?
On a piano, yes. It is the same key and the same sound. The two names exist because written music spells notes by letter, and which spelling is used depends on the key of the piece.
Why is there no black key between B and C?
Because B and C are already only one semitone apart. The same is true of E and F. That is what creates the two and three grouping.