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I.12Part I, The Signs of Notation
Accidentals
This lesson shows you how to read and place the sharp, the flat, the natural, the double sharp and the double flat, and how far the effect of each one reaches.
8 min8 questionsDanhauser § 43 to 45, note (f)
Seven letter names are not enough to name every sound in music. Between C and D, for example, there is another sound in between. To write it, we use signs that change the pitch of the note they are attached to: the sharp, the flat and the natural. Danhauser calls these signs alterations; in English, they are usually all called accidentals.
The three signs
The sharp (♯) raises the pitch of the note.
The flat (♭) lowers the pitch of the note.
The natural (♮) cancels a sharp or a flat. It lowers a pitch that a sharp has raised, and raises a pitch that a flat has lowered.
The natural sign brings the note back to its unaltered state.
You heard it: each sign moves the note only a little. In Part 2, you'll see that the sharp and the flat change the note by a half step, called a semitone in the UK, which is the smallest distance used in our music.
Where the sign goes: accidental or key signature
This is the point that causes the most trouble, so let's take our time. These signs can be placed in two ways, and their reach is not the same.
You can place the sign in front of the note it changes, on the same line or in the same space. It is then called an accidental in the strict sense. Its effect carries on to every following note of the same name within the same measure, or bar as it's called in the UK, and stops at the bar line.
You can also place it at the start of the staff, right after the clef, again on the line or space of the note it changes. As long as it stays there, it affects every note of that name, in every octave, for the whole piece. This is the key signature, which you'll study in detail in Part 3.
The sharp on the first F also applies to the second F in the measure. After the bar line, F is natural again.With an F sharp in the key signature, every F is sharp, in every octave.
Double sharp and double flat
Two more signs go a step further. The double sharp (𝄪, once written ♯♯) raises the pitch twice as much as a single sharp, and the double flat (♭♭) lowers it twice as much as a single flat. So on the piano, F double sharp sounds like G, and B double flat sounds like A.
Accidentals are absolute (note f)
An accidental always shows the exact state of the note, whatever sign came before it. We say that its effect is absolute. So a note that carried a double sharp and then meets a natural becomes natural again, and if it meets a single sharp, it simply becomes sharp.
F double sharp, then F natural, then F sharp: each accidental stands on its own.
WorkshopOnline Piano Keyboard with Note NamesFull screen
On the keyboard, the black keys are the altered notes: C♯ or D♭, D♯ or E♭, and the others.
Middle C = C4 (French: do3)
C4
D
E
F
G
A
B
C5
Press a key: you hear the sound and see its name and its place on the staff.
Exercisein the method's spirit
Draw the following signs: flat, sharp, natural, double sharp, double flat.
Solution
Here they are: ♭ for the flat, ♯ for the sharp, ♮ for the natural, 𝄪 for the double sharp, which looks like a small x, and ♭♭ for the double flat, which is simply two flats side by side.
Exercisein the method's spirit
In this excerpt, give the actual pitch of each F.
Solution
In measure 1, you have F♯, then F♯ again, because the accidental lasts until the bar line. In measure 2, the first F is natural, since it's a new measure, and the second is F♭. In measure 3, you have F𝄪, then F♮, then F♮ again, because the natural lasts until the end of the measure.
Exercisein the method's spirit
Look at a page of music and find all the sharps, flats and naturals. Then sort them: which ones belong to the key signature, and which ones are accidentals?
Solution
This is an observation exercise. The signs of the key signature are grouped just after the clef, at the start of every staff, while accidentals stand in front of a specific note.
You now know how to change the pitch of a note. In the next lesson, we'll come back to durations with the dot. But first, the quiz.
Check your understanding
8 questions
1.
Which sign lowers the pitch of a note?
2.
A natural placed in front of a note that was flatted:
3.
How far does an accidental's effect extend?
4.
What is the last note of this measure?
5.
A sharp or flat placed in the key signature affects:
6.
A note that carried a double sharp now meets a single sharp. It becomes:
7.
On the piano, F double sharp sounds like:
8.
What is a courtesy accidental?
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