Lesson 03 · Lowered notes

Flat Key Note Names Trainer

Learn what a flat (♭) is — lowering a note by one semitone — and the names of all 7 flat keys: A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭.

What does "flat" mean?

A flat (♭) lowers a note's pitch by one semitone — the smallest step used in Western music, equal to the distance from any piano key to the very next key down, black or white. Written after a letter name, "C♭" means "the note C, lowered one semitone." On a keyboard that usually lands you on a black key, since most white keys have a black key sitting right below them.

Every one of the 7 natural letters — A, B, C, D, E, F, G — can be flattened, giving the 7 flat keys this app teaches: A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭.

Two of the natural letter pairs — B/C and E/F — sit only a semitone apart already, with no black key between them. So flattening C or F doesn't reach a black key at all: it lands squarely on the previous white key. That's why C♭ sounds identical to B, and F♭ sounds identical to E. Two different names, the exact same piano key — musicians call this an enharmonic equivalent.

Tap a flat key to hear it and see where it lives:

C♭

All 7 flat keys at a glance

Flat keyBuilt fromPiano key colorSame sound as

Tip: read down the "Flat key" column in order (C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, B♭) and you're actually playing the C♭ major scale — every natural letter, each lowered a semitone.

Ascending
—

Flat keys — Ascending

LetterOctaveMIDI #Same asTonic
Score: 0 / 0 Streak: 0
Which flat key is highlighted?

Which flat key is it?