A question come to my attention that hangs up the beginner and newer students to music.
I observed the question even with my daughter who has been playing for a couple of years. It has to do with how sharp and flat symbols are used in the staff lines and between measures.
We cover the note symbols in the notes lesson at music theory sharps and flats. However, there is a basic issue with understanding the use of these symbols that create problems for the beginning student.
There are 3 items that I want to cover in that the musician must understand in order to play the correct notes shown on sheet music.
First Rule – Key Signature Sharps or Flats
The key signature defines all the sharps and flats that are used in the song. These sharps or flats will be used for all these notes. They will be consistent through out the song.
Here is an example of 3 flats at the beginning of the song. For the notes that show up anywhere in the song ( B, E, and A) they will always be played as a B flat (Bb), E flat (Eb), and A flat (Ab). That is unless modified within the song by a natural sign or a sharp sign.
Therefore you will always play the key signature as shown. This becomes second nature when you fully understand the key signature and scales.
Second Rule of Applied Sharps and Flat Symbols
When a note has been modified by a sharp or flat symbol, it will last for all of that measure, but only for that measure. It changes back to a natural note or the original key signature note when moving into the next measure.
Remember that another symbol can modify it again. This picture shows this concept so you can see the changes that are typical when they take place.
Third Rule About Notation Of Note Symbols
When lots of sharps and flats are used you may find that it’s hard to follow the music and the note changes. Often times you will see that every chord change will show the sharp, flat, or natural symbol to make it a bit easier to read.
Often times you will see a symbol like this (#) or (b) before the note reminding you that the note is a sharp or flat when there are a lot of modifiers in the measure of music.
Hope that helps to clear up the confusion. If not post a comment and I’ll try and explain more.
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
that was really helpful for a beginner like me. The 2nd rule especially. =P
Thanks
Stefanos, I glad that helped you clear up the application of incidental sharp and flat symbols.
One thing I should clarify on rule #2 is that if the note is tied across the bar line it retains the previous note modifier and then will apply to the rest of the measure.
Sometimes, There are always these little things that those of us that have played for awhile forget that the beginners have not experienced and it can through them off.
Stay with it, and stay tuned.
in the 2nd rule after the natural, do u play the note flat?
Stefanos, I might have revised the sentence to say “…. modified by a sharp, flat, or natural symbol, it will last for all of that measure,
So anytime a symbol changes the note lasts until the end of the measure or until another modifier changes it. So once the natural as been used it will continue to be a natural for the rest of the measure.
It would only be changed to a flat in the next measure if: 1. The key signature has that note as a flat, or
2. if it is modified by the flat symbol.
As you can see from the example the last note of the first measure was flat, but the 1st note in the second measure start at natural, then went flat, and then back to natural. If there was another b it would say natural.
Hope that helps.
what really is sharp or flat key
notes?
can you tell me how to read symbols?
Reading symbols is about learning what notes mean and the modifiers that go with them. Notes represent two things a pitch and a time value. It takes a little time to work through the specifics and our notes workshop goes into a lot of detail on how to do that from basic notes, master staff, and intervals. You can learn the basic principles with two of the lessons in the main site at:
music-theory-notes
the continued second lesson covers sharps and flats. In it’s simplist form a sharp is one half step up from the base note and a flat is one half step down from the base note.
and
Note Symbols
goes into what each note symbolizes.
I was never sure if the flat or sharp signiture carried from measure to measure or until it
was “relieved” by a natural and returned to the original signature.You have clarrified it
for me. Thanks
Glad to help Bob, this is always tricky one, sometimes the author of piece may forget to add or correct. Happened to me on a Mozart piece, you never know if it was suppose to be a F natural or an F sharp. Sometimes it sounds good both ways. Artist interpretation!
hi Bob! if a measure (from the grand staff) introduces an accidental mark (say a flat sign on pitch F at the bottom measure), must the sign be applied to the upper measure when I see the note F( even though the sign is not there?)
This is an excellent question Esther. One can be easily confused by the addition of the flat or sharp in one clef but not the other. In almost every case the introduction of the accidental in one clef will not effect the other clef. Both clefs would show the change if it were to meant to applied to both notes.
However, the notation may not always be correct as shown and you should audition the notes to make sure that it works. Think jazz chords here.
In jazz it is very common to add a flat or sharp in one hand and not the other. Some of this may be attributed to enharmonic spellings of chord notes. Some times you may be adding in sharp 11ths or 9ths to add color to your chord and you can end up with the natural in one clef and the sharp or flat in the other.
Hope that helps.
Thanks Brad! That clarified it for me really well.
hehe, Sorry for getting your name wrong. ^^
Very very helpful. Im writing a song for music class and everyone around me is talking about accidentals, naturals sharps and flats and how they affect the key sig. etc. thanks. it has really widened my palette of musical knowledge
Sab, Glad to be of help. Sometimes it can be the little things that hang us up. Making sure you know how it works makes it all that easier. Best of luck, hope you have a great time composing.
Thank you! This helped a lot, I was getting really confused when reading music because I didn’t understand this, but now I do
Thank you so much! I learned a lot because of this article.
I’m about to start my keyboarding lessons and I was a little nervous so I researched some basic tips and I am so glad I found this website!
Hannah,
You’ll find lots of valuable information here to help you with your theory study. I hope it makes your journey easier.
Another clarification if will indulge me. In a single line score for flute for ex. will the modification of a note hold for only that register, or for all octaves throughout the measure? As in the case of a 2-1/2 octave run.
Doug this is a great question, but also an answers with exceptions. In strict theory the run would use the modification for all subsequent notes in other registers within a single measure, but not into the next measure.
In practice, it is always best to show the modification on the other registers for clarity of intent. If you were to stay true to a scale or scale modification it would hold true throughout the run. An example is that you may be in the key of C and change the notes typically played on a D minor chord (Dorian mode scale) into a D Major Scale or Chord then the F# and/or C# would be expected for all runs into the next register.
In some music, especially jazz, however, enharmonic notation may actually not have the sharp or flat apply to other notes. Usually in these cases the natural sign will be used to indicate the desired note.
I’ve had this situation occur with a Mozart piece I was learning. I ended up auditioning it in both situations, funny thing was I could make it work for me either way as an expression of the music. Playing it both ways will usually give you a sense of which note you should use in the context of the phrasing.
In some cases you may find many modifications, often with chords runs on chromatic scales. In these cases it will depend on your understanding of the chord progression intention and the modifications may only apply beat by beat. (This is usually an extreme case, but be aware it does happen)
I know I ran you around the horn on this one, so in general the modification should hold true for the measure or notation line throughout the run. However, know that it doesn’t always hold true based on who produced the notation or the intention of the artist. I typically assume it is true unless I have reason to believe otherwise.
I hope that helps.
I just started and was reading the lesson book that says ” a sharp carries thru the whole measure.” So if there is a sharp at the biginning of a measure, and this measure consists of 4 different notes, then still every notes is a sharp? For example, a measure starts with a sharp, and has 4 notes on the base cleff, G, B, A, G. Do I play #G, C, #A, #G?
Also, what about if a measue starts with a sharp, and consists notes on Base Cleff and Treble Cleff? For example, G(base), B(base), E(Treble), G(base), Do I play #G, C, F, #G?
I am a new learner just feel so hard to figure out. Thanks!
Dealing with sharps and flats is one of the harder points to grasp when learning music. This comes from the fact that the composer may not always make it clear when scoring the music. As the teachers and composers take liberties with accidentals (local sharps, flats, naturals) and you some times have to audition the music to determine what the intent might be.
As I’ve stated before, I read the sheet music based a set of basic rules first. These questions are not easily explained in text, so I’m going to write a new post with visual examples this week to address these questions. In the mean time here are a couple guidelines to help you along the way.
1. Looking at the key signature, say A major there are 3 sharps defined that apply to the entire song on every measure they are F#, C# G#. No matter where you are in the song they always apply unless specifically changed in a measure.
2. When a sharp or flat is applied on one line or space it is only applied to that one note not all notes the chord. In the case of G, B, A, G if the sharp is applied to the G then you will only play G#, B, A, G#. In a proper case you will see that # applied on both notes. In Jazz it might be common to see it applied to only one note and you would play G#, B, A, G. Where the second G is a natural.
My rule for notation is that the sharp or flat is only applied to the line that it is shown on, as in the second example. Unless of course I audition it and find it fits better if I add the next sharp. (I will then write it in if I feel it should be sharped)
3. If a sharp were to be applied in the Bass clef it would not be applied in the treble clef, and visa-versa. So in your second example if the # were applied to the G in the bass, it only applies to that G and no other notes. If the composers wants you to apply it to other notes it will clearly be shown in both clefs.
Start with these two rules:
Key signatures apply sharps and flats across all measures all the time, until overridden at an individual measure.
The sharp or flat when applied at individual measures applies to only the note line/space that it is shown on for only that measure.
Play notes as shown, don’t assume that a sharp or flat applies to any octave note unless shown.
Only modify other notes if you believe that the other notes sound better when playing, but be aware that that odd sound may be what the composer was going for in the phrasing. Think jazz.
I was pretty stuck on this topic untill i read this, the second section was the part that was killing me, thanks alot
Hey is it possible not to have any of the flat or sharp symbols on the music sheet but to play some notes still in sharp? I am new at piano. Help me. I recently gotten a keyboard with book. In some music part keyboard exercise tell me to play some notes in sharp even though there isn’t flat notes or sharp notes on its book. Please Give me some advice. Thank very much
Josh,
In reading music the sharps or flats are indicated in one of two ways. First as you have indicated they would be right next to the notes you are asked to play. In the second it is done with the key signature which is shown only at the first of the staff lines next to the clefs (left hand side). In this case you will not see the individual notes with sharp or flat symbols next to them, but will be implied throughout the song.
In many fake sheets they will only show the notes on the first line at the very start of the song and each additional line is considered a continuation of the this line. I personally don’t like this method as you can change keys in a song and it can get confusing if you don’t have that little reminder.
Without actually seeing what you are playing it’s hard to see what they are trying to teach you. There are cases where they are trying to teach you how to think in a key without seeing the written key signature. This is a good thing, as it is teaching you to really understand key signatures and scales. The unintended problem is that it adds to the confusion of learning if you having got those concepts down cold.
Hope that helps.
how do I know where to place a major or flat?
Susan, Not sure what you’re asking, Placing a major doesn’t make since. I’d need more context for placing a flat. Kind of need to know what you’re doing.
i am good with the piano but i want to know how to place my fingers when playing songs
I want to know the best way to place my fingers when playing songs on the piano
This is a great question Okitakpe! However, there is not exact answer. Playing scales we learn placement as is detailed in the Scale keyboard Fingerings Workbook. Correct fingering is the ability to flow smoothly between notes or between passages, so you have to experiment or audition your fingering to make it smooth for you.
I’ve often taken a given fingering and changed to fit more of my style. After so many years you tend to figure out what works without thinking about. I still, however, find myself working through some fingerings to make a passage flow into the next.
im 11 and in 6th grade band. were just learning this and i want to know what difference does it make with the key sinature bc all the notes in the song are the same with flats and so why do u need the key signature when u no all the notes are flat.?? will the whole songs tmpo and sounding change or will it stay the same.Plz answer quick i got a concert coming up tnxxx!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shriya, if knowing all notes are flat is what it takes, that will work. Learning a key signature is about learning new songs and which notes will be part of that songs structure. If you are reading note by note to play it works, I just think that it takes a long time to master music that way. If you know the note intervals of a song you can transpose it to any other key; maybe they are all not just flat. Different key signatures each have a slightly different sound to them. That’s why you will hear musicians talk about how an A major sounds different than a A flat major. Without knowing your exact situation it’s difficult to be able to encourage learning a key signature if all you have to do is play the notes flat. I might look at it this way if you are playing in the key of C and I said now let’s play those note changes in the key of F, you’d have to know what notes are in the key of F and translate what you played in C to F.
Anyway at this point you need to work on performance and play the notes the way you know them. Best of luck.