The scale and the accidentals |
The scale and the musical keyboard [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] We have seen that there are 7 notes named
C, D, E, F, G, A, B. The next note is again called C and the
sound generated vibrates exactly two times faster than the
sound generated by the first C. This interval from the first
to the second C is called an octave. In a more general way, an octave is the interval
separating a note from the next note bearing the same name,
such as for example from G to the next G. Here is an example
with C: This series of notes from C to C is called
the scale of C. As this diagram is repeated higher and lower,
we will limit ourselves to explain the contents of the notes
from C to C. The same explanation is valid between two
successive C. These notes correspond to the white keys of
a piano or organ keyboard. You can easily locate them by
observing that the black keys are laid out by groups of 2 and
3 between the white keys. The C are the keys which are just
to the left of a 2 black keys group. Here is an illustration: The white keys located between the 2 C
follow the same order as on the staff: The black keys of the keyboard are also
notes that can be played. They are located between specific
white keys. With 7 white keys and 5 black keys, you thus get
12 different notes. The thirteenth note is again a C and the
same diagram is repeated.
Tones and half tones [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] The interval separating one of these 12 notes from the next note
is called a half tone (or semitone).
There is a half tone between C and the black key which is
just next to its right. Between this note and D, there is
also a half tone and so on. These 12 semitones divide the
octave into 12 equal parts. The intervals located between the white
keys are not all the same. Some have 2 half tones (= 1 tone)
and the others only one half tone. Here is a table. Compare
it with the layout of the keyboard; each time there is a
black key, the two white notes are separated by 1 tone and
when there is none, there is only one half tone:
The sharp and the flat [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] As all the notes of the staff correspond to the white keys,
how can we write the black key notes? Two symbols are used for that: the sharp and
the flat. They are placed right in front of a note. The sharp
means that the note should be played one half tone higher than
its normal pitch. The flat means that it should be played one
half tone lower than its normal pitch. Here are graphic examples: The name of the note is then followed by the
terms sharp or flat. We have here an F sharp and a B flat. The F
sharp is located one half tone higher than F. It is thus the
black key located just to the right of F: B flat is located one half tone lower than B.
It is the black key located just to the left of B. By this system, all the keys of the keyboard
can be written on the staff. Because there is a symbol to go one
half tone down and another to go one half tone up, there are two
different ways to write each black key. The first black key can
be written as a C sharp or a D flat. The second can be written as
a D sharp or an E flat and so on. Let us notice that there is no black key
between E and F, neither between B and C. If you place a sharp in
front of E, the note must be played one half tone higher. As
there is no black key to its right, the following key is the F
key. E sharp is thus equivalent to F, F flat equals E, B sharp is
equivalent to C and the C flat equals B. Here is a diagram showing the names of the 12
notes of the keyboard and their writing on the staff: Open the Ex019 file. It contains
examples of sharps and flats: These symbols are called accidentals, because
they alter the pitch of the note. Listen to the sound result
while following the score. Notice that the accidental notes have
an intermediate pitch between two non accidental notes. When you place an accidental in front of a
note, it remains valid until the end of the measure. Let us take
the following example: The measure contains 3 F. The second F is
modified by a sharp. The next F, located in the same measure, is
automatically an F sharp. The symbol must not be written again.
In other words, when a note is altered, it remains altered for
the remainder of the measure, unless otherwise specified. In our
example, if an F is placed in the following measure, it will not
be affected by the sharp. We will further see that you can place
accidentals at the clef. They are accidentals drawn just to the
right of the clef, at the beginning of each staff. They
automatically influence all the concerned notes of the staff.
Here is an example: Two flats are drawn just to the right of the
clef, with the pitch of B and E. It means that all B and E notes
will automatically be B flat and E flat, for all measures. In such a case, it must also be possible to
play a natural (non altered) B. In our example with 3 F, what can
we do if the third F must not be altered by the sharp? The natural [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] There is a symbol which lets you cancel the
effect of an accidental, it is the natural. By placing a natural sign in front of a note, it
returns to its natural state, whatever are the previous
accidentals near the clef or in the beginning of the measure.
Thus, if we want that third F not altered, we place a natural
sign right in front of it: Notice that if a fourth F would follow in
the same measure, it would automatically be a natural F. The
natural sign can be used to cancel an accidental which is
near the clef. To find if a note is an accidental, here
are the rules to follow:
The double sharp and the double flat [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist] To be complete about accidentals, let us mention the double-sharp and the double flat. Respectively, these
accidentals increase or decrease the note by two half tones. Here
is an F double-sharp and a B double-flat: The symbol of the first is a cross placed right
in front of the note and the second represents two flats one
beside the other. They are less common than the sharp, the flat
and the natural sign. If you observe the F note on the musical
keyboard (diagrams of the beginning of this lesson), and if you
go up by two half tones, you arrive on the following white key,
which is a G. An F double-sharp equals to G. In the same way the
B double-flat equals to A. When the same sound can be written in several
ways on the staff (F sharp = G flat, B flat = A sharp
) we
speak about an enharmony. F double-sharp is the enharmony of G
and vice versa, F sharp is the enharmony of G flat and vice
versa, etc. Two notes which are enharmony of each other
will be equivalent to the ear, because they correspond to the
same key on the keyboard.
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