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Flat (music)

Flat (music)

In music, flat (Italian bemolle for "soft B") means "lower in pitch". Flat is the opposite of sharp, which is a raising of pitch. In musical notation, flat means "lower in pitch by one semitone (half step)", notated using the symbol ♭ which is derived from a stylised lowercase 'b'. [1][2] For instance, the music below has a key signature with three flats (indicating either E♭ major or C minor) and the note, D♭, has a flat accidental.

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c'' { \clef treble \key es \major \time 4/4 des1 } }

The Unicode character ♭ (U+266D) can be found in the block Miscellaneous Symbols; its HTML entity is ♭.

Under twelve-tone equal temperament, D♭ for instance is enharmonically equivalent to C♯, and G♭ is equivalent to F♯. In any other tuning system, such enharmonic equivalences in general do not exist. To allow extended just intonation, composer Ben Johnston uses a sharp as an accidental to indicate a note is raised 70.6 cents (ratio 25:24), and a flat to indicate a note is lowered 70.6 cents.[3]

In intonation, flat can also mean "slightly lower in pitch" (by some unspecified amount). If two simultaneous notes are slightly out-of-tune, the lower-pitched one (assuming the higher one is properly pitched) is "flat" with respect to the other. Furthermore, the verb flatten means to lower the pitch of a note, typically by a small musical interval.

Key signatures

Flats are used in the key signatures of

  1. F major / D minor (B♭)

  2. B♭ major / G minor (adds E♭)

  3. E♭ major / C minor (adds A♭)

  4. A♭ major / F minor (adds D♭)

  5. D♭ major / B♭ minor (adds G♭)

  6. G♭ major / E♭ minor (adds C♭)

  7. C♭ major / A♭ minor (adds F♭)

The order of flats in the key signatures of music notation, following the circle of fifths, is B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ and F♭ (mnemonics for which include Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father and Before Eating A Doughnut Get Coffee First).

Double flats also exist, which look like [[INLINE_IMAGE|//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/8px-Doubleflat.svg.png|//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/12px-Doubleflat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Doubleflat.svg/16px-Doubleflat.svg.png 2x|double flat|h12|w8]] (similar to two flats, ♭♭) and lower a note by two semitones, or a whole step. The Unicode character 𝄫 (U+1D12B) in the Musical Symbols block represents the double-flat sign.

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c'' { \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4 beses1 } }

A quarter-tone flat or half flat, indicating the use of quarter tones, may be marked with various symbols including a flat with a slash ([[INLINE_IMAGE|//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Arabic_music_notation_half_flat.svg/6px-Arabic_music_notation_half_flat.svg.png|//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Arabic_music_notation_half_flat.svg/10px-Arabic_music_notation_half_flat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Arabic_music_notation_half_flat.svg/13px-Arabic_music_notation_half_flat.svg.png 2x|flat stroke|h12|w6]]) or a reversed flat sign ([[INLINE_IMAGE|//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Llpd-%C2%BD.svg/4px-Llpd-%C2%BD.svg.png|//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Llpd-%C2%BD.svg/7px-Llpd-%C2%BD.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Llpd-%C2%BD.svg/9px-Llpd-%C2%BD.svg.png 2x|half flat|h12|w4]]). A three-quarter-tone flat, flat and a half or sesquiflat, is represented by a half flat and a regular flat ([[INLINE_IMAGE|//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Three_quarter_flat.svg/10px-Three_quarter_flat.svg.png|//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Three_quarter_flat.svg/15px-Three_quarter_flat.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Three_quarter_flat.svg/20px-Three_quarter_flat.svg.png 2x|three quarter flat|h12|w10]]).

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c'' { \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4 ceh1 deseh } }

Although very uncommon, a triple flat ([[INLINE_IMAGE|//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Llpd-3.svg/12px-Llpd-3.svg.png|//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Llpd-3.svg/18px-Llpd-3.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Llpd-3.svg/24px-Llpd-3.svg.png 2x|triple flat|h12|w12]]) can sometimes be found.[4] It lowers a note three semitones.

See also

  • Electronic tuner

References

[1]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgBenward & Saker (2003). Music in Theory and Practice, Vol. 1, p. 6. McGraw-Hill, Seventh edition. "Flat (♭)—lowers the pitch a half step."
Sep 30, 2019, 2:09 AM
[2]
Citation Linkwww.naxos.comFlat, Glossary, Naxos Records
Sep 30, 2019, 2:09 AM
[3]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgJohn Fonville. "Ben Johnston's Extended Just Intonation- A Guide for Interpreters", p. 109, Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Summer, 1991), pp. 106–137. "...the 25/24 ratio is the sharp (♯) ratio ... this raises a note approximately 70.6 cents."
Sep 30, 2019, 2:09 AM
[4]
Citation Linkwww.informatics.indiana.eduByrd, Donald (September 2016). "Extremes of Conventional Music Notation". Indiana University Bloomington. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
Sep 30, 2019, 2:09 AM
[5]
Citation Linkwww.naxos.comFlat
Sep 30, 2019, 2:09 AM
[6]
Citation Linkwww.informatics.indiana.edu"Extremes of Conventional Music Notation"
Sep 30, 2019, 2:09 AM
[7]
Citation Linken.wikipedia.orgThe original version of this page is from Wikipedia, you can edit the page right here on Everipedia.Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Additional terms may apply.See everipedia.org/everipedia-termsfor further details.Images/media credited individually (click the icon for details).
Sep 30, 2019, 2:09 AM