The Happy Musician

Before our next post, we need to clear up the confusion of B to C and E to F being whole steps. I addressed this in a couple other posts and now it is time to hash it out a little more. Down below is a piano with keys as a visual reference.

As you can see here, there are seven white keys (minus the octave, the other C) and five black keys. Let’s start with the more obvious E to F confusion, as shown here. A whole step can only be a whole step if there is a black key between two white keys or vice-versa on the piano (Playing the piano is helpful for learning other instruments because the intervals between notes can be seen more clearly on a keyboard). Since there is no black key between the E and the F, it is a half step. So what is a whole step from E to another note? You may think it’s crazy, but it is actually F# (sharp) or Gb (flat)! It takes two half steps to make a whole step, so if you did a half step from E to F, you would afterward have to make one more half step jump to make it a whole step. And a half step up from F is F#! Likewise, if you start on F, a whole step down would be Eb.

Although it’s not as obvious here, there is no black key between B and C, making that interval a half step or minor 2nd (More on that on Monday). Likewise, a whole step requires two half steps, so if you go from B to C, you must also go from C to C# (Db as well, but the more common name is C#, more on that in next post). Therefore, a whole step from B is C#. If you do the same thing starting on C, the whole step down is Bb.

I hope that cleared up any confusion you may have had! Please contact or comment if it’s still hard to understand, and leave a like if this post was helpful or taught you something new. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in a few minutes for my next post!

Upcoming Posts \/

Relative Minor Keys and Alternative Note Names (Advanced) (Today)

Intervals (Beginner-Advanced) (Monday)

All-State Vocabulary Part 1 – Middle School (Beginner-Advanced) (Wednesday)

All-State Vocabulary Part 2 – High School (Advanced) (Friday, August 2, 2024)

Post Photo by Piano Secrets

Cover Photo by Juliana Polizel