In the previous lesson, we focused on getting to know how music is represented on paper with the various clefs. Each clef contains 5 notes and 4 spaces representing the 7 notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B.

However, music generally divides into 12 musical tones, not only 7.

If we look at the Chromatic scale described in the theory module, Introduction to Intervals:

The Chromatic Scale

Clearly we need to represent the remaining sharpened and flattened notes in our music notation.

Sharp Notes

Sharpened notes are denoted by the symbol "#" which appears before the note.

Flat Notes

Flattened notes are denoted by the symbol "b" which appears before the note.