Max Kuehn

In music, you’ve probably heard of accidentals but might not know exactly what is an accidental in music theory? They’re related to scales and key signatures, and specifically how we write music down on paper.

The word accidental comes from the Latin word meaning “chance,” which hints at how it got its name. But in music theory, you can also call them variations. In this article, Fidlar deep dive into what accidentals in music mean as well as how to use it in music.

Scales And Key Signatures

We say that a piece of music that primarily uses notes from a particular scale is called “in the key” of that scale. If we have a melody that has the notes G-A-B-C-D-E-F#, we will be in the key G Major, as this melody only uses notes from the G major scale.

A note that requires an accidental throughout a piece of work should be written in a key signature, rather than each time it is used note occurs.

A key signature is used in most music. It tells us what notes will be played flat (♭), sharp (#), or naturally (♮) throughout the piece.

What Is An Accidental In Music Theory?

Sometimes we may want to play a note not covered by the key signature at beginning of the piece. In the key signature of G Major, the notes that we would play are G-A – B-C – D-E – F#. But what if we want a B or C#?

Here are the accidentals.

Accidentals refer to a pitch or note that isn’t part of your key signatures. These notes can be marked using either flat or sharp sign or natural sign. Accidentals alter the note they accompany by raising or decreasing it by a half-step step.

The # sign raises the note by a semitone. The sign lowers it by a semitone. The natural sign raises or lowers a note depending on which key signature.

How Common Accidents Work

A Sharp Accidental

A sharp accidental (#) raises the pitch of a note by a half-step. A sharp accidental note will sound one semitone more than the same note that is not a sharp sign. A sharp sign accidental would make a C# on the piano. Instead of playing the C note, you would instead play the note half-step higher than C.

This is the black keys signature to the right of the C on modern pianos. Black piano keys can also be called accidentals.

Flat Accidental

Flat accidental (♭) reduces the pitch of a note by a half-step. A flat accidental pitch will make a note sound one semitone lower than a note without it. A B notated with the flat would be B. You will play the note lower than B if you see a notehead with a B and a flat beside it. This would result in B, which is the black key signature immediately left of B.

Natural Accidental

Natural accidental (♮) can raise or lower a note’s pitch. It cancels any previous accidentals and returns them to their original pitch. The natural sign will cancel any pitch alteration within a measure. Maybe there is a measure that has a C# at the beginning of the measure.

A measure with a C# on the first beat will not include a C#. The C will still be a C# unless another C is added to the measure. The natural sign is also used to indicate that specific notes have recurring accidentals. The F Major case will mean that the B will always play as B. If a Bis is introduced in the music, it restores the B to its original state of B.

Accidentals Using Tied Notes

This rule can be broken only if the note is tied above the bar line. In that case, the notes will be played together as one. If the notes are tied, the accidental will be kept for that note only, and the next note is played in the normal key signature unless the accidental occurs again. Take this example:

The F♮ is are tied above the bar line in this example. This means that the F on beat one of the second bar is also an F. The F on the second beat is, however, not tied and is now an F♯.

The B♭ in is also held during the second measure. When the B is again played (in the third), it will be back as a B♮. It’s still a convention to mark these notes accidentally to inform the musician that they return to the key signature.

Double Accidentals

These accidentals are also possible in music notation. These accidentals are rarer than regular accidentals. They raise or lower a note by two semitones.

There are no double accidentals. However, there are double sharp (♯♯, more commonly referred to as ‘x’) and double flat (♭♭).

Here’s an example of both

The D has a double-sharp raises accidentally right next to it, raising its semitones by two semitones. The G has a double flat accidental, which lowers it by two semitones.

Double accidentals are very rare because a D that two semitones have raised sounds identical to (in other terms, it is the same as) an A, which is found in the key signature, C Major.

The G is no different. A G that is lowered by two semitones is precisely the same as an F♮. It would be more logical to write the notes in both cases as an E♮ or F♮

Double accidentals would only be seen in key signatures with many double flats or double sharps. Key signatures like C♯ or F♯ for sharps, or D♭ or G♭ for flats.

Sometimes we might need to change the pitch of a note by two semitones or a whole step. We use two new symbols in this instance: the double-sharp (x) and the flat(bb).

We have, for example, a C note. Raise it one semitone and it will become C#, C sharp. You can raise it by one semitone and you will have Cx or C double-sharp (which is the same note as D).

E would be E once it was lowered. It’s Ebb or E double flat if it is lowered again (which is another name for D). Double flat and double sharp are less common than plain old flats and sharps, but they are sometimes needed. However, there are no triple flats and triple sharps.

Music Notation of accidentals

Notes should be able to indicate accidental events. An accidental applies:

to the note immediately after the accidental
to follow notes in the same line or the same space
You can wait until you get a barline or a new accidental for the same note.

If the tie passes a barline, an accidental applies to a note with a tie. The accidental applies to both tied notes but not to any subsequent barlines.

How To Use Accidentals

Here’s an example of accidentals in a melody.

The key signature indicates that we are in G Major. This means that all notes in the key signature are natural notes except the F. You must play the note F# every time you see a note on either the F line or the space.

The ♭ and ♮ signs are in the second bar. These are the accidentals in the melody. They alter the notes that you would typically play in this key signature from Band F# to Band F, respectively.

Two rules govern accidentals. They affect not only the accidental note but also other notes.

The first rule states that the accidental must be applied first to the following note (see Bin 1, the second bar), and then it must be applied to each repetition of that note throughout the bar.

This rule means that the second B in the bar is also a “B.” It’s unnecessary to add another Bb in bar 2 because it could make the music look too crowded and difficult to read.

The accidental does not usually apply to a note if repeated in an octave greater or lesser (within the same bars), although some claim otherwise.

It is common to mark any accidental note with another accidental. If the accidental continues, you can also use flat notes or sharp signs or natural signs to indicate it does not apply.

Here is an example: A bar where the B begins as a B due to the key signature and then changes to a B with the first accidental.

We can also play the B next to it as a Bwe symbol if we want. The following B, however, is back to B because it has a natural, accidental symbol next to it.

The second rule is that an accidental does not carry over to the next bar.

In this example, the F and B in the second bar represent a B, and an F. These accidentals disappear once we cross the line to the third bar. The notes then return to their regular key signature.

This means that the third bar has the F# as F# and the B as B♮.

It’s common to remind musicians to return to the key signature by adding an accidental to match it. In this case, we would add a B♭and an F♮. Music without Key Signatures.

Jazz, for example, may have pieces of music that don’t adhere to a specific key signature. Instead of telling musicians how to play a piece in a particular key, they have to play the note without any specific key signatures.

These pieces have a lot of sharp and flat notes. These passages are not necessarily within the bounds of a set signature, but it is easier to see the entire piece as something without a set key.

Courtesy Accidentals

Courtesy accidents are accidentals that aren’t strictly necessary but are written to clarify pitch and avoid misunderstandings. Courtesy accidentals can be written in normal accidentals or enclosed by brackets.

In two cases, courtesy accidentals can be used:

If a note contains an accidental, it will be repeated as follows: The courtesy accidental indicates that the accidental is not applicable in the following bar.
Tie extends an accidental to another bar, where it is repeated. The courtesy accidental indicates that the accidental is not applicable after the tie.

The example below shows that the natural note doesn’t apply to the next bar. In the second example, the first courtesy accidental (♯ ) indicates that the natural does apply, and the other courtesy accidental (♮ ) signifies the flat doesn’t apply after the end of the tie.

Conclusion

Once you better understand accidentals in music, you can analyze different music pieces and try to identify notes played out of key signatures. It shouldn’t take long to identify accidentals in music. All you need is a simple way to look for flats, sharps, and natural signs.

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What Is An Accidental In Music? Best Things to Know 2023