 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: musica
Date: 2006-11-12 14:17
Why is it when you have a key signature with 4 sharps some composers &
arrangers insist on placing flats , double sharps, etc . in clarinet parts......???
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Author: pewd
Date: 2006-11-12 14:47
you should get a good theory book - study how scales and chords are constructed. try practical theory(complete) by sandy feldstein
consider a G# minor scale for example - the f double sharp is required to follow the rules on how to construct a scale
constructing augmented and diminished chords also result in double sharps and double flats, to follow the theory rules
another example - C - E is a major 3rd
if we want a diminished 3rd, it becomes C - Ebb ; if we wrote it C-D that is a Major 2nd, not a Diminished 3rd.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2006-11-12 15:01
This occurs mostly because the piece temporarily changes key and there is no need to change the key signature for a short time in the music.
For those who use scoring software, the program makes guesses about how to spell notes not in the key signature and sometimes guesses wrong, so I spend time correcting those as I go along. I usually think flats in a sharp key are a bad thing, but sometimes they are necessary as Paul points out.
johng
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2006-11-13 09:28
If the composer writes a double sharp / flat instead of the 'easy equivalent' note, they are usually trying to tell you something deep and important about the structure of the music. It's worth taking the time to sit down with the score and try and work out what it is... what key are we actually in, and where are we going?
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Author: Merlin
Date: 2006-11-13 13:30
There's something to be said for good linear flow in parts, which is why I go through all of the parts generated by my scoring software, and change accidentals as I see fit.
What I strive for is a part that is easily readable by the player.
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Author: allencole
Date: 2006-11-13 15:51
Some very good answers here, particularly in the last three posts.
A couple of things to remember on this subject:
When your key signature has four or more sharps/flats, natural notes are the exception rather than the rule and things are bound to get wacky.
When in a sharp key, a large proportion of double-sharped notes are chromatic lower neighbors. Go through some etude books and notice how many of these occur at the very bottom of a run that goes down and back up. We could make a sharp note natural in order to lower it a half-step, but that makes the visual graphic formed by the noteheads less accurate, and forces us to add an additional accidental to cancel out the natural as we head back up. Taking the note below and making it a double sharp reduces the clutter caused by unnecessary accidentals, and makes it easier to 'follow the bouncing ball.'
This would probably be easier to understand from a singer's point of view, but remember these two bottom-line things about accidentals in general.
1 - We don't want to have any more accidentals cluttering up the music than we have to.
2 - We want the rise and fall of notes (particularly in linear passages) to look just like they sound.
I usually illustrate all this to students by writing out "Standing in the Need of Prayer" (pickup & first full measure) in the key of E. They quickly learn to appreciate that the F double sharp makes a better flat third than a G natural. If you know the song, try this at home and you'll see what I mean.
Allen Cole
Post Edited (2006-11-13 15:55)
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