## 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

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.