Don’t all piano notes have sharps and flats?
They do. Every note can have a sharp or flat, which is what a black piano key is; but there are fewer black piano keys than white piano keys.
The C-note in picture #1 appears to have no flat, because there is no black key directly to the left of it. C has a flat; it’s just disguised as B. Here’s why:
The musical scale on which the piano keyboard is based is called the diatonic scale. This scale has intervals of whole steps and half steps. The interval layout of the C major scale is as follows:
C –whole- D –whole- E –half- F –whole- G –whole- A –whole- B –half- C
There are two half step intervals in a major scale. In C major, they’re between B-C, and E-F. Since there is already a half step between these notes, adding a black key – which lowers a note by a half step – would be unnecessary.
Tip: Because of this interval layout, B can be written as C flat, and F can be seen as E#; their exact names depend on the key, and is explained by a key signature.
Learn more about the diatonic scale.
