(They may, in some circumstances, also sound different see below.) Not only will they look different when written on a staff, but they will have different functions within a key and different relationships with the other notes of a piece of music. Why would you choose to call the note E sharp instead of F natural? Even though they sound the same, E sharp and F natural, as they are actually used in music, are different notes. Looking at the keyboard and remembering that the definition of sharp is 'one half step higher than natural', you can see that an E sharp must sound the same as an F natural. Any note can be flat or sharp, so you can have, for example, an E sharp. Write them on a treble clef staff.īut these are not the only possible enharmonic notes.

Name the other enharmonic notes that are listed above the black keys on the keyboard in Figure 1.33. For musicians who understand some music theory (and that includes most performers, not just composers and music teachers), calling a note 'G double sharp' gives important and useful information about how that note functions in the chord and in the progression of the harmony. Why not call the note 'A natural' instead of 'G double sharp'? The answer is that, although A natural and G double sharp are the same pitch, they don't have the same function within a particular chord or a particular key. Using double or triple sharps or flats may seem to be making things more difficult than they need to be.

sharps and flats are rare, but follow the same pattern: every sharp or flat raises or lowers the pitch one more half step. A double sharp is two half steps (one whole step) higher than the natural note a double flat is two half steps (a whole step) lower. When a sharp sign appears in the C space in the key signature, all C's are sharp unless marked as accidentals.Ī note can also be double sharp or double flat.

E flat major scale tenor clef