another beginner question...

[intoresting]

It seems to me that an A sharp sounds the same as a B flat, a B sharp sounds the same as a
C flat, a C sharp sounds the same as a D flat and so on. Are these in fact different names for the same pitch? If so, why have two different names for the same note?

[exigence]

You're ... kind of right.

Go check out a keyboard - "A sharp" is the same key as "B flat," and "C sharp" = "D flat."  In terms of what you'll hear and its frequency, it's indeed the same - the same strings are being struck.

The different names are thanks to keys (as in, "in the key of") or perhaps accidentals, if they're marked alone (b(note) or #(note)).

[claudio]

check out

https://www.pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,8919.msg98739.html#msg98739

we were beginning to discuss this here.