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 it
A small upright symbol like a stylized 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: Accidental in piano music. An accidental is any sharp, flat or natural written in front of a note, changing its pitch for the rest of that measure.
Flat: Flat in piano music. A flat (♭) lowers a note by one semitone, the very next key to the left, black or white.
Key Signature: Key Signature in piano music. 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 o…
Sharp: Sharp in piano music. 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): Octave Sign (8va) in piano music. The meaning of 8va above a passage: play it one octave higher than written. 8vb below means one octave lower, and the dashed…
Pedal Marking: Pedal Marking in piano music. 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 brack…
Readers Also Look For
Repeat Sign: Repeat Sign in piano music. 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…
