A# of Bb? What's the difference?

[Ekim]

This has been bugging me for some time and I've never seen the question asked. Why have two ways of writing the same exact note? Kind of confusing, isn't it? I know they're actual called enharmonics, but that doesn't answer my question.

[kennydoe]

on a tempered instrument (piano/fretted guitars, etc) you get the same note regardless of how it's written. On a non-tempered instrument (Violins, etc), the player will usually have a slight slight variation between the two.

As far as which on to use, it depends on what key you're in and what the key signature is.

Hope this helps.
~Kenny

[Reaper]

As far as which on to use, it depends on what key you're in and what the key signature is.

yeah, for the most part, it's simply the context of the song that determines which one to use.

[LGMT]

And like Kennydoe said, on non-tempered instruments you can catch the diference by this:

Between two notes G to A there are 7 commas (in oriental world they can perceive this more then ocidental by culture with loads of semitonal)

To archieve in mind a # note (going from G to A) you need 4 commas do distinct, but to percieve a b note you need 5 commas.

I hope make you understand

[Mr Orange]

LGMT, that sounds weird.

I did some "research" with a guitar teacher once, and our ears could distinguish about 12 microtones between a half step...
And about being distinct, it's not enough, one has to be in tune!

Kenny's right, it just depends on the key. In B maj, you have G#, in Eb maj you have Ab. Same frequency, different name. That's why is called sport. I mean enharmonics.

[jem7vwh]

This idea of A# & Bb being the same note, and wondering which to use has created a whole new area of music theory that deals with enharmonic spelling. This means, using the description of the note that best describes it's place within the context it is being used in.

For instance, what if I gave you the C Major scale: C D E F G A B C

Well, what if instead of the correct way, I wrote it, C D E F G A Cb C?

Isn't it the same note? Well- yes it is the same note to your ears, but for the musician reading it- it's a lot different.

Those musicians who sight read are following along and they expect any note on the C-space to be a C natural. So, when you stick your Cb in there, it slows them down. The general idea here is, whenever using a scale, you want to try as closely as possible to have only one note per letter, for instance,

E Major: E F# G# A B C# D# E

Now someone sight reading a piece in E Major knows that every time they see a note printed on the G-line, that it's a G sharp (unless otherwise noted) because of this, they don't have to fumble around.

But what if I spelled E Major: E Gb G# A B Db D E

Now, everytime there's a G or a D, the composer has to enter all of the 'accidentals' to denote a sharp or flat, plus it slows the musician down too. So it's much easier to spell things enharmonically.

[Reaper]

I believe you have to have one of each tone (be it sharp or flat), for a scale to be diatonic.

[kennydoe]

Originally Posted by Reaper

I believe you have to have one of each tone (be it sharp or flat), for a scale to be diatonic.

I'm not really sure what you mean by this, but diatonic is usually more related to how a melody relates to its respective scale.

i.e. a melody which stays within the key signature with no accidentals is diatonic.

~Kenny

[Spagbol]

http://www.ericweisstein.com/encyclo...onicScale.html along with http://www.ericweisstein.com/encyclo...ntonation.html