Why is there no black key on a keyboard in between the notes of E and F?
In: 9
The eight white keys from A to A form a “natural minor” scale. The eight white keys from C to C form its /relative/ major scale, C major.
The reason that there are no black keys between B and C or E and F is because in these two scales that the modern keyboard layout is based around, those two “intervals” are already a “half step” – that is, from B to C and E to F are a smaller relative jump in pitch than then rest of the jumps from note to note.
The reason all the jumps are not the same comes from how we hear tones together and what the “sound like” to the ear. Listen to a whole tone scale and you will head that it is odd, doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere and not very satisfying the way a major scale is.
As for why there are black keys in the first place, there was experimentation with adding these “half steps” inside scales to allow for more complex harmony inside of a piece. Things to look up on this subject would be secondary dominants and modal shifting.
Originally though even with the black keys, a harpsichord would still be tuned in a specific key and playing outside of that key would not sound the same. Nowadays we almost exclusively use “equal temperament” which is where each of the 12 half steps half been adjusted to be mathematically equal portions of the “octave”, and close enough to the relative ratio pitches that we still hear them that way.
The benefit is that not a player can play in any key without worrying about the tuning being all wacky. The downside is that no chord is actually quite perfect, even on a freshly tuned instrument.
Look up “just intonation” for examples where this equal temperament has been ditched, and you will find that the harmonies are particularly sweet and satisfying.
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