My 1st grade piano student had his lesson today. He’s an awesome little guy, NASCAR fan, boy scout, all around smart and good kid. He’s been taking lessons with me for the past 10 weeks and today he got a little intro on what those mysterious black keys are. I told him they were the sharp and flat keys and asked him why he thought they were called that just to get him thinking a little bit. He enjoys trying to figure out answers for himself first before I help him out. I expected some answer that they’re black or they sound different (starting to describe them like I had hoped he would). Instead he paused, looked down at the keys, played a few, and replied “Because Ms. Dwinal, they sound a half step above and below the notes on the white keys”….I nearly fell over in my chair. I had never mentioned this before and somehow he deducted that they sound halfway in between the white keys all by himself. I’M SO PROUD! *jumps with glee*