How to Play Five Sharps

A sharp is a musical term that refers to the raising of a pitch by a half step. The written symbol for a sharp is "#." When you have five sharps in a piece of music, it means that the piece is either in the key of B major or G# minor. Learning to play a piece with five sharps consists of figuring out which notes should be played sharp and which notes should be played natural. Although you can play a musical piece with five sharps on most instruments, the concept is most easily discussed using the piano.

Things You'll Need

• Piano

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Play any F in the piece as F#. F# is the black key just to the right of F (see Resources for a note placement chart).

   • 2

     Play any C in the piece as C#. C# is the black key to the right of C.

   • 3

     Play any G in the piece as G#, which is the black key to the right of G.

   • 4

     Play any D in the piece as D#, which is the black key to the right of D.

   • 5

     Play any A in the piece as A#, which is the black key to the right of A.

   • 6

     Play E and B as naturals (the white keys) throughout the piece.