Flat (music)

In music, flat means lower in pitch. It may either be used in a general sense to mean any lowering of pitch, or to specifically refer to lowering pitch by a semitone. A flat is the opposite of a sharp (Template:Music) which indicates a raised pitch in the same way.

The flat symbol (Template:Music) appears in key signatures to indicate which notes are flat throughout a section of music, and also in front of individual notes as an accidental, indicating that the note is flat until the next bar line.

Pitch change

The symbol Template:Music is a stylised lowercase b, derived from Italian be molle for "soft B" and German blatt for "planar, dull". It indicates that the note to which it is applied is played one semitone lower. In the standard modern tuning system, 12 tone equal temperament, this corresponds to 100 cents.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite dictionary</ref>

In older tuning systems (from the 16th and 17th century), and in modern microtonal tunings, the difference in pitch indicated by a sharp or flat is normally smaller than the standard semitone. For example, in the old quarter-comma meantone system a flat lowers a note's pitch by Template:Nobr, and in just intonation a flat commonly lowers a note's pitch by 70.57 cents. In Pythagorean tuning a flat lowers the pitch by 113.7 cents, and in well temperaments, a flat may be different sizes. Intricate systems of microtuning may replace the standard flat or sharp with different symbols for raising and lowering pitch. In 53 equal temperament tuning sharps and flats have two or three different sub-levels, and notation for flattening notes varies, but usually involves several different symbols; one of the sets of Template:Nobr flat symbols is Template:Music (67.9 cents), Template:Music (45.3 cents), and Template:Music (22.6 cents), used both separately and in combinations.

Related symbols

A double flat (𝄫) lowers a note by two semitones (a whole step).

<score>{ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c { beses1 } }</score>

A quarter-tone flat, half flat or demiflat indicates the use of quarter tones; it may be marked with various symbols including a flat with a slash (Template:Music), a flat with a 4 (Template:Vanchor),Template:Cn or a Template:Vanchor (Template:Music). A three-quarter-tone flat, flat and a half or sesquiflat is represented by a demiflat and a whole flat (Template:Music). The symbols Template:Music, Template:Music, Template:Music, among others, represent comma flat or eighth-tone flat.Template:Efn

<score>{ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c { ceh1 deseh } }</score>

A triple flat (♭𝄫 or 𝄫♭) is very rare. As expected, it lowers a note by three semitones (a whole tone and semitone).<ref name=":0"> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref> (For example, B♭𝄫 is enharmonic with A♭.)<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

<score>{

\omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c {

 \tweak Accidental.stencil #ly:text-interface::print \tweak Accidental.text \markup { \concat { \flat \doubleflat }}beses1

} }</score><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

While this system allows for higher multiples of flats, there are only a few examples of triple flats in the literature. However, quadruple flats or beyond may be required in some non-standard tuning systems such as 53 equal temperament. A quadruple flat would be indicated by the symbol 𝄫𝄫.Template:Citation needed

<score>{

\omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c {

 \tweak Accidental.stencil #ly:text-interface::print \tweak Accidental.text \markup { \concat { \doubleflat \doubleflat }}beses1

} }</score>Template:Citation needed

Flats in key signatures

Template:Spaces	Template:Vanchor in key signatures
Template:Spaces	Number of flats Major key Scale Minor key 0 C major Template:Ifsubst style="color:lightgrey">— none — A minor 1 F major B♭ D minor 2 B♭ major B♭, E♭ G minor 3 E♭ major B♭, E♭, A♭ C minor 4 A♭ major B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ F minor 5 D♭ major B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ B♭ minor 6 G♭ major B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭* E♭ minor 7 C♭ major B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭*, F♭* A♭ minor
	The last two rows are shaded, indicating keys that are generally avoided, in part because they use inconvenient enharmonic notes, denoted with "*". In the standard tuning system of 12 equal temperament, the key of [[C-flat major|CTemplate:Music major]], with 7 flats is enharmonically equivalent with B major, which only requires 5 sharps.

The order of flats in key signatures is

B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭

The corresponding order of keys also follows the circle of fifths sequence:

F, B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭

Starting with no flats or sharps (C major), adding the first flat (B♭) indicates F major; adding the next (E♭) indicates B♭ major, and so on, backwards through the circle of fifths.

Some keys (such as C♭ major with seven flats) may be written as an enharmonically equivalent key (B major with five sharps in this case). In rare cases the flat keys may be extended further:

F♭ → B𝄫 → E𝄫 → A𝄫 → D𝄫 → G𝄫 → C𝄫

requiring double flats in the key signature. These are generally avoided as impractical, and the simpler, equivalent key signature is used instead. This principle applies similarly to the sharp keys.

The staff below shows a key signature with three flats ([[E flat major|ETemplate:Music major]] or its relative minor C minor), followed by a note with a flat preceding it: The flat symbol placed on the note indicates that it is a D♭.

<score>{ \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c { \key es \major des1 } }</score>

In standard 12 tone equal temperament tuning, lowering a note's pitch by a semitone results in a note that is enharmonically equivalent to the adjacent named note. In this system, BTemplate:Music and ATemplate:Music are considered to be equivalent. In other, non-standard tuning systems, however, this is not the case.

Accidentals

Accidentals are placed to the left of the note head.<score> { \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c { bes1 } }</score> They apply to the note on which they are placed and to subsequent similar notes in the same measure and octave. In modern notation they do not apply to notes in other octaves, but this was not always the convention. To cancel an accidental later in the same measure and octave, another accidental such as a natural (♮) or a sharp (♯) may be used.

<score>{ \omit Score.TimeSignature \key c \major \time 4/4 bes'2 b' bes'! bis'}</score>

Other notation and usage

• Historically, raising a double flat to a single flat would be notated using a natural and flat sign (♮♭) or vice-versa (♭♮) instead of using only a flat sign (♭). In modern notation the leading natural sign is often omitted. The combination ♮♭ can be also written when changing a sharp to flat.Template:Citation needed

  <score>{

\omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c { beses2 bes2 \accidentalStyle modern beses2 bes2 } } </score>

• In environments where the 𝄫 symbol is not supported, or in specific text notation, a double flat can be written with ♭♭, two lower-case b's (bb), etc. Likewise, a triple flat can also be written as ♭♭♭, etc.Template:Citation needed
• In environments where the Template:Music or 𝄳 symbol is not supported, or in specific text notation, a half flat can be written as a lower-case d. Likewise, a flat and a half can also be written as d♭ or db.Template:Citation needed
• To allow extended just intonation, composer Ben Johnston uses a flat as an accidental to indicate a note is lowered 70.6 cents.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Unicode

The Unicode character ♭ (U+266D) can be found in the block Miscellaneous Symbols; its HTML entity is Template:Nobr Other assigned flat signs can be found in the Musical Symbols block and are as follows:

• Template:Unichar
• Template:Unichar
• Template:Unichar
• Template:Unichar

See also

• Template:Annotated link

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline

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