Flat
A flat (♭) lowers a note by one semitone — the very next key to the left, black or white.
Same rules as a sharp: inside a measure it applies to that pitch for the rest of the bar; in the key signature it applies to every octave for the whole piece.
How To Spot Flat
Play the Flat (Notation Glossary)
Tap the highlighted keys — any order.
A symbol like a lower-case b immediately to the left of a note head, or after the clef in the key signature.
Find It In Thirty Seconds
Play any white key, then the key immediately to its left. Do it from C and notice you land on a white key, B. Flats are not always black keys either.
Open any piece of sheet music on this site and do it now. Reading is a recognition skill, and recognition is built by finding things, not by reading about them.
Related Topics...
How to Read Sheet Music: Learn how to read sheet music using interactive lessons from Chordzy. Or browse our various reading music topics.
Music Notation Glossary: Every symbol on a page of piano music, explained in one sentence each — clefs, note values, rests, accidentals, dynamics and repeat marks.
Accidental: An accidental is any sharp, flat or natural written in front of a note, changing its pitch for the rest of that measure.
Key Signature: The key signature is the group of sharps or flats just after the clef. It applies to every note of those letter names, in every octave, for the whole piece.
Natural Sign: A natural (♮) cancels a sharp or a flat, returning the note to its unaltered pitch for the rest of the measure.
Sharp: A sharp (♯) raises a note by one semitone — the very next key to the right, black or white.
Readers Also Look For
Double Flat: A double flat (♭♭) lowers a note by two semitones — two keys to the left.
C Flat Major Scale (Piano): Warm, velvety, and quietly luxurious: the C Flat Major Scale can be practiced right now on the piano using Chordzy, along with free C♭ Major exercises & music.
More in This Section
Grand Staff: The grand staff is the pair of staves piano music is written on: treble clef on top for the right hand, bass clef underneath for the left, joined by a brace.
Half Note: A half note is a hollow note head with a stem, and it lasts two beats in common time — half a whole note.