Natural Sign
A natural (♮) cancels a sharp or a flat, returning the note to its unaltered pitch for the rest of the measure.
It is the undo button. It matters most against the key signature: in a piece with F♯ in the signature, a natural in front of an F means play the white key this time.
How To Spot Natural
A small upright symbol like a stylised box with two tails, immediately to the left of a note head.
Find It In Thirty Seconds
Find a natural sign in a piece with a key signature. Play the note as the signature says, then as the natural says, and hear which one the composer wanted.
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.
Flat: A flat (♭) lowers a note by one semitone — the very next key to the left, black or white.
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.
Sharp: A sharp (♯) raises a note by one semitone — the very next key to the right, black or white.
More in This Section
Octave Sign (8va): 8va above a passage means play it one octave higher than written; 8vb below means one octave lower. The dashed line shows how far the instruction lasts.
Pedal Marking: A pedal marking tells you when to press and release the sustain pedal: Ped. where it goes down, an asterisk or the end of a bracket where it comes up.
Readers Also Look For
Repeat Sign: A repeat sign is a double bar line with two dots. Play up to it, then go back to the matching sign facing the other way — or to the beginning if there is none…