What is sharp: an overview

Everyone who knows more or less familiar with musical notation, knows that when constructing some types of scales and writing music, signs of alteration are often used. The main ones are sharp and flat. In addition, the composers have at their disposal a bacar mark, which cancels the raising or lowering of the sound of notes. In this case, we are talking about the sharps.

What is sharp?

As for the definition itself, the meaning of the term "sharp" comes from the French word diese, the Greek diesi, which can be interpreted as "softening". This sign of alteration began to be actively used in musical notation, dating from about the 15th century, as well as the other two basic signs (flat and bekar).

Today these signs are basic. Less often there are signs like double-sharp and double-flat. To the bekar (canceling all changes in the sound of notes), the prefix "double" is not applied today.

What is sharp in terms of modern music theory? This is a sign that indicates an increase in the sound of a note on a semitone, standing on the musical camp after it. Moreover, the note is increased by a half tone with the name of the note itself being preserved. The use of the sign sharp can be twofold. He can stand in the key. Then all the notes to which he points, in the whole work or scale will be raised by a half. If the sharp with a key is missing, it is sometimes put directly in the bar to harmonize the unique sound. But only in this case the action of the sign is limited to one measure. In addition, the cancellation of a note increase can be established with the help of a bacar in the same measure, afterwards (if necessary).

Compatibility of signs of alteration

As for, so to speak, compatibility of signs, sharp and bacar, flat and bekar can be applied in one harmonic sequence. But sharp and flat - never. This is due to the musical rules and canons.

The fact is that at the moment there is a clear distribution between types of scales. For all of them, special sequences of signs with a key are used, indicating the type or name of the gamma. In other words, apart from pure notes, these are allowed changes in sound. So it becomes clear that if the basic tonality or gamma based on which the musical work is based has only sharp marks in the key, there can be no question of any flats.

Sometimes paradoxes arise. Many novice thrashists tend to argue that the style of thrash-metal music is based on the obligatory combination of quints with tonic and B flat or imply a transition in the form of a reduced fifth. This is the absolute error. The fact is that if initially we have a key in E-minor with a fiasi in the key, B-flat here can not be present at all.

In fact, the second Quinta is not based on B-flat, but on la-sharp. Hence the change of the transition interval. This is not a reduced fifth, but an enlarged quarter. So understanding of what is sharp can also be interpreted as a kind of permission to increase the sound of strictly defined notes or steps of a certain scale.

There is one more nuance. The fact is that the same la-sharp and B-flat sound the same on all instruments. What is sharp in this case? This is an increase in a certain note by a half-tone (in this case, a), coinciding with a decrease in the next note (the next one on the musical camp) for the same half-tone (in this example, si). So such things can not be confused.

Key signs and definition of scales

Now a few words about the key signs and principles of constructing or defining some types of scales. As already mentioned above, sharp (or several) in the key means increasing the note by a half (or a few notes) in the whole scale or a piece of music. What for sharps, that for flats there is a certain order, according to which they follow in the key one after another.

For sharp tonalities, this sequence looks like the following representation: fa / to / salt / re / la / mi / si. The sequence for flats is of the reverse order. By the sign or signs in the key, you can immediately tell what tone it is. For the major, the tonic is calculated by moving a half-ton up from the last key sharp, which is the far right. Minor tonality can be determined by constructing a small third from the major tonic or moving in the sequence of sharps to the sign that is to the left of the previous one.

To make it clearer, as an example, take a key with three key signs: F-sharp, before-sharp and sharp-sharp. The last sign in this case is salt sharp. Polton's up give us a note la. This is the tonic. That is, it is Gamma in A major. A small third down is a F-sharp. Again, jumping over one sharp back, we see it is F-sharp. As you can see, everything is simple.

The result

Probably, now it is clear what a sharp sign is. Raising a note by a half is his main purpose. The only thing I want to pay attention to: never confuse the use of sharp and flat in one key or work.