PPP162: Enharmonics – the There, Their, They’re of Music Notation

Not only can a pitch be raised a half-step, it can also be raised by a whole step. That F that we raised to F# could be raised another half step to what looks and sounds like the white key G. In certain contexts we would have to call that sound, F-double sharp. (The double sharp symbol can look like two sharp signs side by side but it is more commonly shown as a blocked x before the note.)

 

That B that we lowered to Bb could be lowered again to the A piano key but we would have to call it B-double flat. (The double flat is two flat signs printed closely next to each other.)

 

You may be wondering why don’t we just call those notes G or A? Why do we have to cal them Fx or Bbb?? Trust me, many of my students have asked me the same thing and it all goes back to context like we talked about at the top of the show. (Fun fact: If you are a harp player, apparently your music excludes double sharps and flats and just uses the basic letter name for the note.)

 

The context of the key signature and the function of the note determines what the note will be called and how it will be spelled in the music notation. When we build chords, (see Episode 132) we must spell the chord with every other letter. A C major chord uses the letters C E G (skipping over D and F). That makes sense when all the chord tones are on white keys. A B major chord uses the letters B D# and F#. We don’t spell it B D# and Gb; that doesn’t make any musical sense. If I wanted to create a B augmented chord (that’s a whole other topic for another day!) I would have to spell it B D# and Fx to stay true to the original chord spelling. To spell it B D# G actually changes the whole name and function of the chord.

 

The minor scales can utilize double sharps when the 6th or 7th note is raised. (see Episode 067)

 

Hang on to your hat: The g# minor scale in its natural form uses g# a# b c# d# e f# g#. The melodic form raises the e and f# to e# and fx. In this case we wouldn’t spell the scale g# a# b c# d# f g g#. We must include every letter of the music alphabet and it just doesn’t make sense to use g and g# in the same scale.

 

One clever person in an online forum I read put it this way. “You wouldn’t write, ‘Come over hear so I can here you better’.” Even though it sounds the same, it’s just wrong.