Sharp and flat notes are opposites, so the difference between them is very easy to understand: one goes up, the other down. When a note’s pitch is sharpened, it is raised by a semitone (or a half-step). Similarly, when a note’s pitch is flattened, it is lowered by a semitone.
The easiest thing to understand different pitches is to look at a standard piano keyboard. Each key represents a semitone, with the lowest notes on the left of the piano and the highest on the right. So, when a note is sharpened, you move one key up to the right (black or white depending on which is closest) and when a note is flattened you move one key down to the left. Simple as that!
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When reading music on the page, sharp or flat notes are shown by symbols that are known as accidentals. These tell you to change the pitch of the original note. A sharp symbol looks like this: ♯ (similar to, but not the same as, the ‘hashtag’ symbol # on social media). A flat symbol looks like this:♭(similar to a lowercase b).
Occasionally, notes can also be double-sharp or double-flat. The premise of these is the same but moves the pitch by two semitones (or a tone). So, if you have a G double sharp, raising this by a tone would make it an A. If you have a G double flat, this would become an F. On a piano keyboard, you would move two keys to the right (sharp) or left (flat).
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Visit our musical terms dictionary to find out about other musical definitions you may not know.