So far we've covered the very basics of rhythm and melody, and you should possess the basic skills necessary that you now understand what all those dots and squiggles represent. While this might get you through basic Flutophone class, there are still a few more things you'll want to know. Chief among these are key signatures. You may have seen sharps and flats in music: a sharp looks like a hashtag (♯)  and a flat looks like a lowercase B (♭). They are placed to the left of a note head and indicate that the note to follow is played a half-step (semitone) higher for a sharp, or a half-step lower for a flat. The C scale, as we learned, comprises the white keys on the piano. When you're beginning to read music, it's easiest to think of the sharps and flats as the black keys. C major and A minor have no sharps or flats. In Western music, notes are either a whole tone or a semitone apart. If you look at the C note on the piano keyboard, you'll see there's a black key between it and the next note up, the D. The musical distance between the C and the D is called a whole tone. The distance between the C and the black key is called a semitone. Now, you may be wondering what that black key is called. The answer is, “it depends.”  A good rule of thumb is if you are going up the scale, that note is the sharp version of the beginning note. When moving down the scale, that note would be the flat version of the beginning note. Thus, if you are moving from C to D with the black key, it would be written using a sharp (♯). In this case, the black note is written as C♯. When moving down the scale, from D to C and using the black note as a passing tone between them, the black key would be written using a flat (♭). Conventions like that makes music a little easier to read. If you were to write those three notes going up and used a D♭ instead of a C♯, the notation would be written using a natural sign (♮). Notice that there's a new sign—the natural. Whenever you see a natural sign (♮) that means that the note cancels any sharps or flats previously written. In this example, the second and third notes are both "D"s: the first a D♭, and so the second D, since it goes up a semitone from the first D, has to have the note "corrected" to show the right note. The more sharps and flats scattered around a sheet of music, the more a musician must take in before the score can be played. Often, composers that previously used accidentals in previous measures may put "unnecessary" natural signs to provide clarity for the player. For example, if a previous measure in a D major piece used an A♯, the next measure that uses an A may be notated with an A-natural instead. So far, we've been looking at the C major scale: eight notes, all the white keys, starting on C. However, you can start a scale on any note. If you just play all the white keys, though, you will not be playing a major scale, but something called a "modal scale," which is beyond the scope of this article.  The starting note, or tonic, is also the name of the key. You may have heard somebody say "It's in the key of C" or something similar. This example means that the basic scale starts on C, and includes the notes C D E F G A B C. The notes in a major scale have a very specific relationship to each other. Take a look at the keyboard above. Note that between most notes, there is a whole step. But there is only a half step (semitone) between E and F, and between B and C. Every major scale has this same relationship: whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half. If you start your scale on G, for example, it could be written like this: Notice the F♯ near the top. In order to maintain the proper relationship, the F has to be raised a semitone so that it's a half step from the G, not a whole step. That's easy enough to read by itself, but what if you started a major scale in C♯? (See above.) Now it starts to get complicated! In order to cut down the confusion and make music easier to read, key signatures were created. Each major scale has a particular set of sharps or flats, and those are shown at the very beginning of the music. Looking again at the key of G, we notice that has one sharp—F♯. Instead of putting that sharp next to the F on the staff, we move it all the way to the left, and it is just assumed from that point on that every F you see is played as an F♯. (See above picture.) This sounds, and is played, exactly the same as the G major scale above, with no key signature.
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One-sentence summary -- Take the next step. Know the whole tones and semitones. Understand key signatures.


Baking soda can do an amazing job of absorbing unpleasant odors and neutralizing the air in a room. If you’ve recently cooked with garlic and find that the smell has lingered in your kitchen (or other rooms in your home) longer than you’d like, pour about 1/4 cup (32 g) of baking soda into a bowl. Place the bowl on a counter and leave it for 2–3 days.  At the end of this time period, the garlic smell should be gone. If you’re concerned about your fridge smelling like garlic, you can just leave an opened box of baking soda in the back to absorb bad odors. Leave the open box in the back of your fridge overnight and, by morning, the garlic odor should have vanished. If the garlic smell remains after you’ve left baking soda in the fridge overnight, clean the interior of the fridge to get rid of the smell. First, remove all of the food from the shelves and drawers in your fridge. Then, dampen a sponge with vinegar. Use the sponge to wipe down all of the interior surfaces of the fridge. This should get rid of the lingering garlic odor. In general, vinegar is a great cleaning agent and deodorizer. Fill a pan with 2–3 cups (470–710 mL) of tap water and heat the water to a simmer. Then add a few cloves, an orange peel, and 2 or 3 cinnamon sticks. Let the homemade potpourri simmer for at least 15 minutes to fill your kitchen with a pleasant aroma that will cover up any unpleasant garlicky smells. If you don’t have spices on hand or prefer the smell of citrus fruits, try simmering 1 sliced lemon, some orange rind, and a handful of mint leaves in water. Select a bowl from your cabinet and fill it with 1 cup (240 mL) of white vinegar. Vinegar absorbs smells from the air around it and can clear the air in your kitchen (or any room in your home) after you’ve cooked with garlic. By the time morning comes, the bowl of vinegar will have gotten rid of the unpleasant garlicky smells. If you don’t have vinegar on hand, don’t worry. You can use coffee grounds instead. Fill a bowl with 1/2 cup (64 g) of freshly ground coffee and leave it out overnight.
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One-sentence summary --
Leave a bowl of baking soda in a garlicky area to remove the smell. Wipe down the interior of your fridge to remove absorbed odors. Simmer pleasant-smelling spices in a saucepan for 15–20 minutes. Set a bowl of vinegar out overnight to absorb unwanted garlic smells.