(These are sometimes learned using an acrostic phrase as a mnemonic, for example:įather Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle orįather Christmas Gave Dad An Electric Blanket orįather Christmas Goes Down All Escalators Backwards.) The order of sharps in key signature notation is F ♯, C ♯, G ♯, D ♯, A ♯, E ♯, B ♯, each extra sharp being added successively in the following sequence of major keys: C→G→D→A→E→B→F ♯→ C ♯. For instance, the music below has a key signature with three sharps (indicating either A major or F ♯ minor, the relative minor) and the note, A ♯, has a sharp accidental. The verb sharpen means to raise the pitch of a note by a small amount, typically less than a semitone.Ī sharp symbol, ♯, is used in key signatures or as an accidental. If two simultaneous notes are slightly out-of-tune, the higher-pitched one is sharp, assuming the lower one is properly pitched regardless of proper pitch, the higher note is sharp with respect to the lower. In intonation, sharp can also mean 'slightly higher in pitch' (by some unspecified amount). The ♯ symbol itself is conjectured to be a condensed form of German ligature ſch (for scharf) or the symbol ƀ (for 'cancelled flat').

A sharp is the opposite of a flat, a lowering of pitch. More specifically, in musical notation, sharp means 'higher in pitch by one semitone (half step)'. In music, sharp, dièse (from French), or diesis (from Greek) Not to be confused with the # or the well-field system.

Sharp and flat symbol