Sharps

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman.
Today we're going to be focusing on sharps.
Bringing them into sharper focus. I can't see a thing.
Try pointing it the other way! Oh, right. Thanks Princess.
That's much better. So, let's come to the piano and start learning about sharps.
In order to understand sharps, we have to first understand half steps.
Remember, that a half step is the distance between two notes so close together there is no other note in between.
Like right here. E and F form a half step.
However, D and E would not be a half step,
because they have this black key in between.
So acoustically they're actually farther apart then these two keys are sonically speaking.

Now, can you find any other white key half steps?
Point to some on your piano or on your screen.
If you're pointing right here,
this would be another natural half step using the white keys.
Here's another one up here. Any others?
That's right there's another set of, another half step right there.
Now press pause,
and on your own piano I'd like you to go through and play every single pair of white key or natural half steps on your entire piano.
Press pause, find all your natural half steps,
and then press play when you're ready to go on.

Now, white key half steps aren't the only kind of half step on the piano.
You can also have a white to a black key half step.
Like from C to C-sharp.
The distance of these two notes is also a half step,
because there's no note in between.
You just can't get any closer than this.
So it can be from a white to a black key, it can also be from a black to a white key. But a half step can never be a black to a black key.
So you'll notice in every case there's always a white key in between every black key. So this would actually be a whole step.
Now, let's practice finding some half steps.

I will indicate a note on your screen,
and then,
I'd like you to point to the key that's a half step above whatever I show you here.
So, can you find the half step above this G?
Point to it. If you're pointing right here to G-sharp, you're correct.
Can you find a half step above this B? Point to it.
If you're pointing right here to C, you're correct.
Remember, a half step above always goes this direction to the right on your piano. This is up, and this is down on the piano.
Now, can you find a half step above this A?
Point to it. If you're pointing here to A-sharp, you're correct.
Now, can you find a half step above this C-sharp? Point to it.
If you're pointing here to D, you're correct.
A half step above C-sharp would be D.

Now that we've reviewed half steps, let's talk about sharps again.
In music when a composer wants a sharp, they'll use this sharp symbol.
So when you see this,
it means you're going to raise whatever note you see by one half step.
So for example, if a composer wants a D-sharp,
they could put a sharp in front of the D in the music,
and that would mean instead of playing D you'll actually play D-sharp.
Or if you had a G and added a sharp to it,
it would become G-sharp.
Now it's even possible to use our natural half steps in sharps.
For example, E-sharp would become F.
Another way to say this is E-sharp equals F.
It's really the same key. Two names for the same thing.

What about B-sharp? Can you point to where B-sharp would be?
That's right. Since there's no black key here,
B-sharp would have to be C.
Basically, a sharp is just raising a note one half step.
Now let's practice with sharp names a little bit.
I'll put one of these colored circles on a key,
and you have to tell me its sharp name.
Can you tell me the name of this key here?
If you said D-sharp, you're correct.
Can you tell me the name of this key using a sharp name?
If you said A-sharp, you're correct.
Can you tell me the name of this sharp?
If you said C-sharp, you're correct.
Can you tell me the name of this key using a sharp name?
If you said E-sharp, you're correct.
Again it's also an F, but now you know it's secret name, E-sharp.

Let's finish with this one. What sharp name could you call this note?
If you said F-sharp, you're correct.
Great job learning about sharps today.
From our website,
you can download worksheets that will help you practice sharps so you can be sharp with your sharp skills.
Anyway, thanks for watching and see you next time!

Hey Chef! Looking sharp!

Thanks!