Why is it that B and C are only half step above each other ? Shouldn’t B just be a black key then?
(Perhaps you’re second paragraph may have answered my question- they figured if B was black it would push all the keys down and not be as easy to play in the classic setup...not sure)
The second paragraph basically answers it - the way songs work is that they mostly use 7 notes out of the 12 distinct notes. Which 7 notes will depend on which scale the song is played in at the time. The 7 notes that are used / that are part of the scale will always be in a certain setup where if you start from the first note of the scale, you will then move up steps according to the following formula:
[start with a note, eg: C]
up whole step -> D
up whole step -> E
up half step -> F
up whole step -> G
up whole step -> A
up whole step ->B
up half step -> C (this is a repeat of the 1st).
When playing in different scales, you start somewhere else but use the same formula to figure out which other notes you're using, so you will end up using black keys.