19: Accidentals On Purpose
Accidentals Are No Accident
The pitch of a note can be altered in two ways—slightly lowered, or
slightly raised. This is shown by symbols which appear in front of the
note on the staff, and they’re called accidentals. Though I know the use
of the word accidental began around 1651, I’m not really sure why,
because these changes are made on purpose. They should be called
onpurposes. But we’re stuck with accidentals, so that’s what I’ll call
them.
There are three types of accidentals: flats, sharps, and naturals. Each has
its own sign, shown below.Example 19.1 The Accidentals.
General Accidental Information
Accidentals appear in front of the note they alter. This is so that when
you’re reading music, you see the accidental before you get to the note. If
the accidental was placed after the note, it would be too late. Putting the
accidental after the note is a very common mistake that a lot of people
make who are unfamiliar with writing music.
However, there is a good reason for this mistake. When written, the
accidental comes before the note, but when spoken, the accidental comes
after the letter name of the note. For example, even though you say B flat,
the actual note in the treble clef is on the third line with a flat sign in front
of the note, like so:Flat Sharp Natural