Month: September 2007

A handwritten score by a French composer contains an orchestra part that changes from D# to Eb in the same measure. The key signature is 6 sharps. The question asked to me was whether the second note is actually an Eb, or if the flat simply cancels out the E# in the key signature, making it a natural E.

The player mentioned it might be a convention of French music to have the flat cancel out the sharp in the key signature. I believe the Eb is simply what it is, an Eb and I will explain why.

Flats and sharps are simply what they are, they are not added to or subtracted from the key signature or previous accidentals. In other words, a written Eb will always be just Eb – makes no difference about key signature or what is before.

Now there was a time in Early Music where the execution of accidentals had not been standardized. There was a time where accidentals would carry through a piece until they were changed again. In other words, if on page one the score show an F#, then the F’s would remain sharped until changed again – if that didn’t happen til page 5 it made no difference, the F’s remained sharp until let’s say on page F it was written as an F natural. Now imagine how confusing this was for a player to jump in on page 3 having no knowledge of the previous accidental! This is why it was later made standard that an accidental would only last for one measure.

In music theory the chords of the score each relate to each other. A Cm chord has a different quality and function depending how it fits into the score. For example: A Cm as the tonic in the key of Cm, or a Cm as the ii chord in Bb major, or the Cm as a vi chord in Eb major. As a composer writes, especially with chromatic music like Wagner, it’s common to temporarily change keys within a song – but in a very short phrase the key signature won’t be changed – it is done with accidentals. This is why when looking at a single part it may not make sense how the note is written, but it DOES make sense when seen with the score as a whole (if it is written and scored well).

The conundrum is that if you don’t see the underlying chord movement in your mind, the note seems written as a mistake. If you DO understand the underlying chords, and the writer notates the pitch so it’s easier to read but doesn’t support the actual theory of the chord – it’s VERY confusing to read. Most of the time I notice notes like this “dumbed down” in modern praise music, band charts, and usually when someone has written a score by hand without really understanding the chords.

An example of this: You are in the key of Bb major (two flats). In the middle of the piece the composer writes a ii-V-I to temporarily module to the key of E (chords would be F#m – B – E). On the “B” chord the third is D#. The player that is scored for that note sees they are in the key of Bb, but instead of an Eb written, they see D#. It looks like a mistake. But if they saw the whole score they would know it can ONLY be D# because it is the third of the B chord. If it were dumbed down to an Eb the chord would become the notes B-Eb-F# – if I were to sightread that I would miss it, thinking it were a jazz extension.

I hope this all makes sense. It’s much simpler to understand it than it is to explain it….like most things.