), which looks like a lowercase "b"; the note A flat is shown in musical notation in Figure 1. The Unicode character '♭' (U+266D) can be used to display a flat sign.

and lower a note by two semitones, or a whole step. Less often one will encounter half, three-quarter, or otherwise altered flats.

In tuning, flat can also mean "slightly lower in pitch". If two simultaneous notes are slightly out of tune, the lower-pitched one (assuming the higher one is properly pitched) is said to be flat with respect to the other.

See also

• Sharp, Natural

Musical notation

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