Accessions: sharp, flat, bekar

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Every beginner who wants to understand musical theory is faced with a lot of incomprehensible and therefore terrible terms, namely: sharp, flat and bekar.

As creepy as they sound, accidentals are actually necessary and not as complicated as they are made out to be.

Introduction to theory

Before moving on to the terminology of signs, you should understand the word " alteration", in particular, how it relates to this topic.

Alteration is a phenomenon in which the main (natural) steps of the mode are modified. They can either go up (go up the keys) or go down (go down).

If you dive into the etymology, the word alteratio in Latin means "other".

Thanks to the alteration from each step, it is possible to build absolutely any fret (major, minor, Lydian, Neapolitan and others).

Also, this term can also mean the aggravation of unstable sounds of modal attraction to the notes included in the tonic triad. In this case, only those sounds that are at a distance of a large second from the stable steps will be modified.

In the major it will belook like this:

• second stage rise or fall;
• fourth will rise;
• the sixth will decrease (the harmonic form of the major scale).

In minor key:

• second stage will go down;
• fourth can go both up and down;
• the seventh will always gravitate toward the first (the harmonic form of the minor scale).

Fratic rise or fall in music gives a bright expressive effect.

Sharp. What is this?

There are only 3 types of accidentals: sharp, flat and bekar.

The first one has the effect of raising the sound by a semitone. A semitone is the shortest distance between notes that can exist in music.

On the letter, this musical sign is indicated by the pound sign "" familiar to everyone on the phone keyboard.

However, in music, everything is rather complicated and often confusing. When reading the scores, you may come across a symbol that does not look like a lattice, looking more like a cross. This sign is called double-sharp. This is an accidental sign, which also raises the sound, but already by a whole tone (it is formed according to the scheme: semitone + semitone).

It looks like this in practice.

Flat. What is it about?

Having de alt with the sharp, the obvious question arises: "Then what does the flat mean?". These two signs are opposites, "antonyms" of each other. Based on this, the flat does everything exactly the opposite - it lowers the sound by a semitone.

Onin a musical staff, it looks like a letter of the Russian alphabet - a soft sign.

If the principle of a flat is the same as that of a sharp, it is obvious that there is also a double - flat, which lowers the note by a whole tone. However, it is much easier to recognize it in the record: the same sign is added next to it.

An illustrative example is shown below.

Bekar. What is the symbol?

If everything is clear with the effect of increase-decrease, then why do we need the Bekar sign? It's simple - it cancels all the above characters. Its action extends only to the note before which it stands, and lasts one measure in the time interval.

In the past, double backer was used to cancel double sharps and double flats, but then a regular flat without any doubling was used for such cases.

It looks like the number "4" in music, but instead of a triangle, it closes with a square on top.

Sharps, flats and becars on the stave

When the theory becomes clear and the terms no longer seem terrifying, it is time for a practical acquaintance with the material studied.

The main rule to remember is this: all accidentals are placed before notes.

If in oral speech it is pronounced: "c-sharp", then with a thorough reading of the score it will be the other way around: "sharp-c".

This principle applies only to those situations where the signs are temporary and sound eitheras a means of expression, or as an intermediate transition to another key. They only work once and for one sound only.

Key sharps and flats

The difference between the key accidentals is as follows: they are indicated at the very beginning of the stave after the key and their effect extends to the entire piece. Sharps and flats indicate the key in which the entire composition or a separate part of it is written.

It should be clarified that in the case of a key, accidentals can be either only sharp or flat. Mixing is impossible, since this situation obeys the laws of scales: the tonality contains either flats (for example, C minor) or sharps (D major).

Worth clarifying

For many, when mentioning accidentals, a black key immediately pops up in their imagination. Undoubtedly, this association takes place, but not in all cases.

If there are any signs at the key, this already indicates that there are lowered or raised sounds in the notes, and with temporary sharps / flats that occur during the piece, black keys can turn into white.

The same situation will happen with the white keys fa and si. Raising them by half a step, namely: from mi to mi-sharp and from si to c-sharp, will not make them black, since betweenthey simply do not have this key.

In conclusion

Summing up, we can draw the following conclusions: this article clearly explained what sharps, flats and becars mean, and was able to prove that in practice "the devil is not as scary as he is painted."

Accessions are integral parts of a musical constructor that deserve special attention and detailed study.