Things You'll Need:
- Piano keyboard
- Blank staff paper
- Pencil
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Step 1
Place the little finger of your left hand on the E above middle C on a piano keyboard. Holding this note down, skip the next white note and place your ring finger on the G. Then put your middle finger on B, your index finger on D and your thumb on F. If you can't stretch this far, you may have to cheat and use your right hand.
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Step 2
Hold these five notes down and look at just the white keys. The notes that are depressed are E, G, B, D, and F ("Every Good Boy Does Fine") the same as the five lines on the treble staff. The four white keys between them spell F-A-C-E, the spaces on the treble staff. All the white keys have a letter name and are called naturals. The black keys are called accidentals, and they borrow the name of a white key on either side. Depending on which white key you tie them to, they may be called sharp or flat.
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Step 3
Look at the white keys that don't have a black key between them. Refer to the E-F and B-C keys as semitones because they are only a half step apart. The other pairs of white keys (F-G, G-A, A-B, C-D, D-E) each have a black key between them. These are called whole tones because they are two half steps apart.
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Step 4
Play the note F on the piano. Write this note on a sheet of music in the bottom space of a treble staff. Now play the black note between F and G. Write this note as an F with a sharp sign in front of it. Next, play the note G, and write it on the second line of the staff. Play the note between F and G, and write it on the same line, with a flat sign in front of it.
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Step 5
Compare the way you have written the two accidentals on your sheet music. G-flat and F-sharp look different on paper, but when you play them on the piano they are the same note.
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Step 6
Write the notes for the other black keys (there are only four more) on your staff paper, showing each one with their flat name and their sharp name.
