List and explain five accidental signs in music
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In music, an accidental is a note of a pitch (or pitch class) that is not a member of the scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the sharp (♯), flat (♭), and natural (♮) symbols, among others, mark such notes—and those symbols are also called accidentals.
In music, an accidental is a note of a pitch (or pitch class) that is not a member of the scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the sharp (♯), flat (♭), and natural (♮) symbols, among others, mark such notes—and those symbols are also called accidentals.
In the measure (bar) where it appears, an accidental sign raises or lowers the immediately following note (and any repetition of it in the bar) from its normal pitch, overriding sharps or flats in the key signature. A note is usually raised or lowered by a semitone, although microtonal music may use "fractional" accidental signs. There are also occasionally double sharps or flats, which raise or lower the indicated note by a whole tone. Accidentals apply within the measure and octave in which they appear, unless canceled by another accidental sign, or tied into the following measure. If a note has an accidental and the note is repeated in a different octave within the same measure, the accidental does not apply to the same note of the different octave.
The modern accidental signs derive from the two forms of the lower-case letter b used in Gregorian chant manuscripts to signify the two pitches of B, the only note that could be altered. The "round" b became the flat sign, while the "square" b diverged into the sharp and natural signs.
Sometimes the black keys on a musical keyboard are called accidentals (i.e., sharps or flats), and the white keys are called naturals.[1]
Standard use of accidentals
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Typical system
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In most cases, a sharp raises the pitch of a note one semitone while a flat lowers it one semitone. A natural is used to cancel the effect of a flat or sharp. This system of accidentals operates in conjunction with the key signature, whose effect continues throughout an entire piece, unless canceled by another key signature. An accidental can also be used to cancel a previous accidental or reinstate the flats or sharps of the key signature
Accidentals apply to subsequent notes on the same staff position for the remainder of the measure where they occur, unless explicitly changed by another accidental. Once a barline is passed, the effect of the accidental ends, except when a note affected by an accidental is tied to the same note across a barline. Subsequent notes at the same staff position in the second or later bars are not affected by the accidental carried through with the tied note
m. 1: G♮, G♯, G♯ (the sharp carries over)
m. 2: G♮ (with courtesy accidental), G♭, G♭ (the flat carries over)
m. 3: G♭ (which is tied from the previous note), G♯, G♮ (the natural sign cancels the sharp sign)
Note-for-note system
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Though this convention is still in use particularly in tonal music, it may be cumbersome in music that features frequent accidentals, as is often the case in atonal music. As a result, an alternative system of note-for-note accidentals has been adopted, with the aim of reducing the number of accidentals required to notate a bar. The system is as follows:[2]
An accidental carries through the bar affecting both the note it immediately precedes and any following notes on the same line or space in the measure.[3]
Accidentals are not repeated on tied notes unless the tie goes from line to line or page to page.
Accidentals are not repeated for repeated notes unless one or more different pitches (or rests) intervene.
If a sharp or flat pitch is followed directly by its natural form, a natural is used.
Courtesy accidentals or naturals (in parentheses) may be used to clarify ambiguities but are kept to a minimum
Because seven of the twelve notes of the chromatic equal-tempered scale are naturals (the "white notes", A; B; C; D; E; F; and G on a piano keyboard) this system can significantly reduce the number of naturals required in a notated passage.
Occasionally, an accidental may change the note by more than a semitone: for example, if a G♯ is followed in the same measure by a G♭, the flat sign on the latter note means it is two semitones lower than if no accidental were present. Thus, the effect of the accidental must be understood in relation to the "natural" meaning of the note's staff position.
In some atonal scores (particularly by composers of the Second Viennese School), an accidental is notated on every note, including natural notes and repeated pitches. This system was adopted for "the specific intellectual reason that a note with an accidental was not simply an inflected version of a natural note but a pitch of equal status."[4]
Double accidentals
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\override Score.TimeSignature
The two double accidentals. From left to right: double flat and double sharp.
Double accidentals raise or lower the pitch of a note by two semitones,[5] an innovation developed as early as 1615.[citation needed] This applies to the written note, ignoring key signature. An F with a double sharp applied raises it a whole step so it is enharmonically equivalent to a