Flat (music)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In

chromatic semitone. A flat is the opposite of a sharp
(♯) which raises pitch by the same amount that a flat lowers it.

♭
Flat (music)
In UnicodeU+266D ♭ MUSIC FLAT SIGN (♭)
Different from
Different fromU+0062 b LATIN SMALL LETTER B
Related
See alsoU+1D12B MUSICAL SYMBOL DOUBLE FLAT
U+266F ♯ MUSIC SHARP SIGN

The flat symbol (♭) is used in two ways: It is placed in

bar line
.

Pitch change

The flat symbol is ♭ is a stylised lowercase ‘b’ , derived from Italian be molle for "soft B" and German blatt for "planar, dull". It indicates that the

cents.[1][2]

In

diatonic semitones found between E and F or B and C. In those tuning systems, the size of the shift made by the ♭ symbol usually conforms to the smaller-sized lowering of pitch;[a] however, for some tuning systems it may instead be replaced by a different symbol for raising and lowering pitch, depending on the author's preference and the intricacy of any microtuning involved.[b]

Flats used in key signatures

  Order of flats in key signatures
 
Number
of flats		 Major key Flat notes Relative
minor key
0 C major — none — A minor
1 F major B♭ D minor
2 B♭ major B♭, E♭ G minor
3 E♭ major B♭, E♭, A♭ C minor
4 A♭ major B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ F minor
5 D♭ major B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ B♭ minor
6 G♭ major B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ E♭ minor
7 C♭ major B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭ A♭ minor
 
The last two rows are shaded because those keys are avoided, in
part because they use inconvenient enharmonic notes, colored red.
In 12 TET the key of C♭ major involves pressing the same keys on
a keyboard as the equivalent B major, which only requires 5 sharps.
  

The order of flats added onto the key signature is

B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭.

The corresponding order of keys is off by one:

F♮, B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭.

Starting with no sharps or flats (C major), adding the first flat (B♭) indicates F major; adding the next (E♭) indicates B♭ major, and so on, backwards through the circle of fifths.

Some keys (such as C♭ major with seven flats) may be written as an enharmonically equivalent key (B major with five sharps in this case). In rare cases, the flat keys may be extended further:

F♭ → Bdouble flat → Edouble flat → Adouble flat → Ddouble flat → Gdouble flat → Cdouble flat

requiring double flats in the key signature. These are called theoretical key signatures, based on the impracticality of their use, rather than the simpler, equivalent key in 12 TET. This principle applies similarly to the sharp keys.

Key signature example

The staff below shows a key signature with three flats (

E♭ major or its relative minor C minor
), followed by a note with a flat preceding it: The flat symbol placed on the note indicates that it is a D♭.

{ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c'' { \key es \major des1 } }

In

enharmonically equivalent to the adjacent named note. In this system, B♭ and A♯ are considered to be equivalent. In most tuning systems
, however, this is not the case.

As a temporary accidental

When used as a temporary accidental sign, the flat symbol is placed to the left of the note head.

{ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c'' { bes1 } }

Temporary accidentals apply to the note on which they are placed, and to all subsequent similar notes in the same measure and octave. In modern notation they do not apply to notes in other octaves, but this was not always the convention. To cancel an accidental signature later in the same measure and octave, another accidental such as a natural (♮) or a sharp (♯) may be used.

Related symbols

A double flat (double flat) lowers a note by two semitones, or a whole step.

{ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c'' { beses1 } }

A quarter-tone flat, half flat, or demiflat indicates the use of quarter tones; it may be marked with various symbols including a flat with a slash (flat stroke) or a reversed flat sign (half flat). A three-quarter-tone flat, flat and a half or sesquiflat, is represented by a demiflat and a whole flat (three quarter flat).

The symbols -, ↓, flat stroke, among others, represent comma flat or eighth-tone flat, or a quarter of a flat (not to be confused with the larger quarter tone).[d]

{ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c'' { ceh1 deseh } }

Although very rarely used, a triple flat (triple flat) can sometimes be found.[3] It lowers a note three semitones, or a whole tone and a semitone.

{ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c'' { \tweak Accidental.stencil #ly:text-interface::print \tweak Accidental.text \markup { \concat { \flat \doubleflat }}beses1 } }

The symbol of a quadruple flat,

ordinary temperament.[4]

{ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c'' { \tweak Accidental.stencil #ly:text-interface::print \tweak Accidental.text \markup { \concat { \doubleflat \doubleflat }}beses1 } }

Unicode

The

HTML entity
is ♭ . Other assigned flat signs are as follows:

  • U+1D12B 𝄫 MUSICAL SYMBOL DOUBLE FLAT
  • U+1D133 𝄳 MUSICAL SYMBOL QUARTER TONE FLAT

Other notation and usage

Footnotes

  1. ^ For example, in
    cents, and in just intonation a flat commonly lowers a note's pitch by 70.57 cents. This is comparably smaller to the 100 cents lower used in 12 TET, and the 113.7 cents lower used in Pythagorean tuning. In well temperaments, a flat is two or more different sizes, depending on the temperament and where the starting, unflattened note sits on the circle of fifths
    .
  2. ^ a b For example, in 53 TET sharps and flats have two or three different sub-levels, and notation for flattening notes varies, but usually involves several different symbols; one of the sets of 53 TET flat symbols is ♭ (67.9 cents), half flat (45.3 cents), and ↓ (22.6 cents), used both separately and in combinations.
  3. 12 TET
    is the predominant system of tuning in Western music.
  4. ^ The size of the lowering of pitch by a "comma" varies, depending on the tuning system; it is normally 21 + 1 / 2 cents but can vary between 20–25 cents.[b]
  5. ^ A quadruple flat (
    standard tuning
    .

See also

  • Sharp (music) – Accidental raising the pitch of a note by one chromatic semitone (♯)
  • Electronic tuner – Device used to tune musical instruments

References

  1. ^ Benward & Saker (2003). Music in Theory and Practice. Vol. 1 (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill. p. 6. Flat (♭) lowers the pitch a half step.
  2. Naxos Records. Archived from the original
    on 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2015-02-06.
  3. ^ Byrd, Donald (October 2018). "Extremes of conventional music notation". luddy.indiana.edu. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University.
  4. doi:10.31751/612
    .
  5.  25 / 24  ratio
     is the sharp (♯) ratio ... this raises a note approximately 70.6 cents.(p 109)

External links
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