Location of Notes on a Keyboard

The white notes are labeled C (on the base clef)
through C (on the treble clef)  

 

     The notes on the staff can be located on the piano. In the diagram at the right, the keyboard starts on C in the base clef. The white keys are the notes A through G that were discussed in yesterday's post. The black keys are either a half step up or a half step down from the note right next to it. These are called accidentals.

    If you are going up, the accidentals are called sharps (#). For instance, C# is the black key right above C. A# is the half step up from A and so on. Sometimes music likes to trick people by saying E# or B# when it really just means to play F or C. Sharps are a half step above the notes. Just like sharps, flats (♭) go a half step down. The most commonly used flats are B♭ , E♭, and A♭. The flats that go down and are still white keys are C♭ and F♭. C♭ is B and F♭ is E. This concept may seem strange at first but after a while, you get used to it.