Steps and Accidentals

The word interval refers to the distance between two pitches.

A half step is the interval between one key on the keyboard to the next adjacent key. Adjacent means the one right next to it, sharing a side.

Key 1 and Key 2 are a half step apart.

If you look at the bottom part of the keyboard on the last slide, you could get confused and think that the two white keys are next to each other. To help, imagine covering up that part and looking only at the tops, like the picture here. Now, it is clear that the white and black notes shown were adjacent.

Most of the time, to travel a half step you will go from a white key to a black key, but not always! As you can see in this picture, there is no black key between these two white keys, which means that they are only a half step apart.

Just like a fraction of anything else, two halves equal a whole. Traveling the distance of two half steps equals a whole step.

From note 1 to note 3 is a whole step.

(Note 1-2 is the first half step, and note 2-3 is the second.)

We have already learned the natural note names for our musical alphabet, which are the white keys of the keyboard - CDEFGABC. We use accidentals to give names to the half steps in between each of those notes - the black keys on our keyboard.

A sharp sign looks like a pound sign. It is NOT called a hashtag in music! A sharp in front of a note raises that pitch by a half step.

The note A refers to the white key we have already learned. The note A sharp is the black key directly to the right of it, and its pitch sounds a half step higher.

A flat sign looks like a heart that is flat on one side or a funny shaped b. A flat in front of a note lowers that pitch by a half step.

The note A refers to the white key we have already learned. The note A flat is the black key directly to the left of it, and its pitch sounds a half step lower.

When you see a natural sign in front of a note, it cancels out any sharp or flat sign and directs you to play the natural pitch. On a keyboard, you would go back to playing the natural white key for that pitch.

An enharmonic spelling is a fancy way of saying that there can be more than one way to name a note.

The red note in the picture can describe the note a half step higher than C, which would be C sharp, OR it can describe the note a half step lower than D, which is D flat. It is still the same pitch, just a different name!