What is the musical term flat?

Answer 1

In music, when you see the flat sign (it looks like a lowercase "b"), it simply means to lower the given pitch one half step. On the piano this would be the key directly to the left of the given note.

Answer 2

A flat is a note that is a half-step below the note as written on the musical staff. The flat symbol looks a bit like an italicized 'b'. In some cases, a flat note can also be equivalent to another note (c-flat is the same thing as b, f-flat is the same thing as e).

Flats come built into some musical keys (there can be up to 6), and can also be marked as accidentals, where they only apply to that measure in the music.

The opposite marking from a flat is a sharp (#), which raises the note a half step (e-sharp is f, b-sharp is c).

Some instruments are referred to as "flat", like the b-flat Clarinet. This means that the instrument's scale is different from the c-scale like you would find on a piano. If a piano and a clarinet were playing together, they would read music written in different keys. If the clarinet was reading in the key of c, the piano would be reading in b-flat, but the music would come out in the same key.

Answer 3

A music flat decreases the pitch of the note by a semitone

Answer 4

A flat lowers a note by a semitone.