Until now you may have played almost entirely on the white keys. The black keys have been useful landmarks, a way to find C and F by looking for the groups of two and three, but you have not had to press them. That changes here. This lesson gives you the two measuring tools that every scale, key and chord is built from, the half step and the whole step, and it introduces your first black-key note, F sharp.
The half step: the smallest move on the keyboard
Play any key, then play the very next key to its right, whether it is black or white. That distance is a half step. It is the smallest gap a piano can make, and every key on the instrument is exactly one half step from its neighbours.
Most of the time the key next door is a black one. But in two places on every octave there is no black key between two white keys: between E and F, and between B and C. Those white keys sit side by side, so moving from E to F is already a half step.
Look closely at that picture. E to F has no black key between them. F to the black key is a half step. That black key to G is another half step. Four keys, three half steps, and your fingers have only moved a tiny distance.
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The whole step: skip one key
A whole step is two half steps added together. In practice, that means you skip exactly one key. C to D is a whole step, because the black key between them is skipped. D to E is a whole step for the same reason.
E to F, though, is only a half step. If you want a whole step up from E, you have to skip F and land on the black key just above it. That black key is the note this lesson is really about.
The sharp sign and F sharp
A sharp raises a note by a half step. To play a sharpened note, find the plain note and move to the very next key on the right. The black key just to the right of F is therefore called F sharp, written F♯.
You can find it quickly by looking for the group of three black keys. F sharp is the first, lowest black key in that group. Every group of three on the piano starts with an F sharp, so once you can find one you can find them all.
On the staff, a sharp sign is written just in front of the note it changes. It sits on the same line or in the same space as the note head, so the sharp for F sharp above middle C sits in the bottom space of the treble staff, exactly where F lives.
A useful way to think of it: the note's letter and position on the staff tell you which key to look at, and the sharp tells you to take one step to the right from there.
How to practise half and whole steps
You need no special music for this, just a keyboard and a few calm minutes. Use your right hand, with your thumb near middle C.
- Play E, F, F sharp and G with fingers 1, 2, 3 and 4, one key at a time, then come back down. Say "half step" aloud as you move each time.
- Now play C, D, E, F sharp and G with fingers 1 to 5. Say "whole, whole, whole, half" as you go up. Notice how the hand stretches a little more for the whole steps.
- Close your eyes and play any white key. Move up one half step. Open your eyes and check: did you land on the very next key?
- Find every F sharp on the keyboard, from the bottom to the top, by spotting the groups of three black keys.
- Play a short tune that uses F sharp. Here is one to try, slowly, with a steady count of four.
Each time you meet a sharp, look at the note first, then move one key to the right. Keep a light, curved hand so that the finger can reach forward onto the black key without the wrist twisting.
Common mistakes
- Counting keys instead of gaps. C to D is one whole step, even though you touch three keys if you count the black one in the middle. Count the moves, not the keys.
- Playing the black key to the left. A sharp always moves to the right, which is up in pitch. A later lesson introduces the flat, which goes the other way.
- Reaching with a flat finger. Black keys sit further back. Move the hand slightly forward towards the fallboard so that the fingertip lands comfortably on F sharp, rather than stretching a flat finger.
- Forgetting the sharp halfway through a tune. When you see a sharp, say the full name in your head, "F sharp", rather than just "F".
Try it in Pianuvo
The Academy lesson for this topic walks you through half steps, whole steps and F sharp with short exercises that listen as you play, whether you use the on-screen keys, a MIDI keyboard or a real piano through your microphone. It also returns to the Jingle Bells chorus so you can play both hands with your new note in mind. You will find it in Unit 5: Sharps, scales and G major.