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Bert Ligon Principles of Accidental Usage
I. Diatonic
Considerations II. Accidentals
as Chromatic Pointers III. Arpeggios IV. Modulations
& Transposing V. Chord
Symbols VI. Non-traditional
scales & scale superimpositions VII.
Conclusions PURPOSEFUL ACCIDENTALS Poor choices in music spelling hinder the performer and often obscure the understanding of the passage. There are an alarming number of poor choices made by students, arrangers, educators, and editors of books and published music. Should we care whether a note is Bb or A#? Is there a difference? Many would always prefer Bb to an A#. Duz speling mater, duz it really mater weather a not is speled B phlat or A sharp? Spelling matters. Notes do not occur by themselves—they occur in lines, in musical contexts, within key signatures and key areas, as part of arpeggios—and those contexts should be considered when making musical spelling choices. We may be encountering more musical spelling errors recently because people are not actually making choices using their pens and pencils. Too many of us are dependant on what our software chooses for us. Computer notation programs have made music notation faster and accessible to more people, but it has created an epidemic of misspelled accidentals. The errors are not the fault of the software programs. Musical notation software offers opportunities to make those choices. Some offer enharmonic maps, and all offer the chance to enharmonically change a note. We just are not taking the time to choose. This is an appeal to students, educators, composers, publishers and editors to spell check the music. The rules for notation boil down to readability. Notation decisions should be based on making the music easier to read. One needs to understand diatonic key signatures, proper use of accidentals as indicators of direction, and chord spelling. In all music theory books, near the beginning, the chromatic scale is introduced in both ascending and descending form. Altered notes want to continue in the direction in which they have been altered: sharps go up—flats go down. When accidentals are used correctly, the performer knows the pitch and the direction of the line. Bb points down—A# up. Better and accurate spelling makes for easier reading. Easier reading allows the musicians to get to the real music more quickly. Spelling depends on context—there is no fixed name for an accidental. Write in the key of the moment. Write diatonic passages using pitches common to the key signatures. Avoid mixing two pitches of the same letter (C - Db - Eb rather than C - Db - D#), or combining sharps and flats in the same scale passage (F# - Ab - Bb). When the music modulates, write in the new key of the moment. Modulations typically move to closely related keys. Closely related keys can be defined as those one accidental away from the home key, or to the keys related to the diatonic chords of the home key. For example, the key of F major is 1b. The keys one accidental away from F major are the keys of 2bs (Bb major & G minor), no sharps or flats (C major, A minor), the relative minor, D minor (shares the 1b key signature). For each minor key, a leading tone must be added. Modulating to these close keys utilizes all twelve chromatic pitches. Here is a list of keys closely related to F major with the accidentals necessary for modulation shown in parentheses: G minor (Eb, F#), A minor (Bn, G#), Bb (Eb), C (Bn), D minor (C#). The twelve chromatic pitches for writing in the key of F major would be: F- F# - G - G# - A - Bb - Bn - C - C# - D - Eb - En. (Read through any Bach invention or solo literature. Notice how the accidentals that occur correspond to this list of accidentals. The accidentals tell a larger story: in F, the addition of an Eb to the melodic lines indicates a modulation to Bb major; the addition of an Eb and an F# indicates a modulation to G minor.) Many notation programs allow the setting of enharmonic tables, and this basic set of twelve pitches would be a starting point for writing in the key of F major. The line in ex.1 occurs often in some published music. The chord symbols indicate a D7 chord, a secondary dominant to G minor, the key of ii in F major. Our modulation chart would suggest F# and Eb as notes that point to G minor. The Gb is misleading (pun intended). D7 is spelled D - F# - A - C, not D - Gb - A - C. Ex. 1
Modulations to remote keys will introduce other accidentals. If your notation program is set to the enharmonic choices above, the context of choices must still be considered. Do not presume that the pitches above are always the best choice. F major may modulate or use chords from F minor, and in that context Ab would be a better choice than G#, and Db a better choice than C#. Sharps point up and flats point down as explained in the opening pages of many music theory books. This suggests there are two ways to notate the pitch between diatonic whole steps. Between F and G, use an F# when ascending and a Gb when descending. The correct use of accidentals indicates the note and the direction of the line to the reader. Example 2a and 2b from a published trumpet part illustrates how improper use of accidentals causes unnecessary clutter on the page. D# should have been used instead of Eb to point up to En. Ex. 2a: Cluttered accidentals Ex. 2b: Clear and efficient use of accidentals
Blues scales and bluesy lines often are described as having a flatted fifth and may contain the both the major and minor third. The direction of the line should determine whether or not to use a b5 or a #4, or to use a b3 or #2 in a written line. The #4 would rise to the n5; a b5 would descend. The #2 ascends to the major 3rd; a b3 descends. Notice how the F# and D# ascend and the Gb and Eb descend in ex.3. The D# and the G# ascend and the Eb descends in ex 4. Ex.5 includes the enharmonic equivalents G# and Ab, D# and Eb. The raised pitches rise; the lowered pitches fall. Ex. 3
Ex.4
Ex. 5
Write arpeggios so they are easy to read. Tertian arpeggios—chords built in thirds—should be spelled using thirds. Quartal arpeggios—chords built in fourths—should be spelled using fourths. Choose C-Eb-G (an easy spelling for reading and singing a C minor arpeggio) rather than C-D#-G (difficult to read and nearly impossible to sing with an augmented 2nd and diminished 4th intervals.) This can be illustrated with passages from published music shown in ex.6. The first measure (6a) is difficult to read as shown in the top line. The notes contain combinations of pitches not found in any major scale as written. The perfect fourth between Db and Gb may be easy to see, but the whole step between Gb and Fb is unnecessarily difficult to read. Choosing C#, F# and En makes these intervals, and the line, easier to read. Fb to An, an augmented third, is easier to read as a perfect fourth from En to An. Dn to Gb, a diminished fourth, is easier to read as a major third from D to F#. The bottom staff makes the quartal arpeggio (E - A - D) clear, and all the notes are from the key of two sharps. The second example (6b) is also unnecessarily difficult to read as shown in the top line. The first three notes are easy to recognize as an F major triad. The second three notes appear to be a quartal chord (D - G - Cb), but the last interval (G - Cb) is a diminished fourth. Changing the Cb to Bn creates a much easier to read line of alternating F and G major arpeggios. Ex 6a. Quartal arpeggio Ex 6b. Tertian arpeggios (Top line = poor choices, Bottom line = better choices = easier to read)
Be careful when modulating to remote keys or transposing for other instruments. What may seem the best choice for one instrument will look different for another. Try to avoid the keys of seven flats (Cb/Ab minor) or seven sharps (C#/A# minor) when possible. The alternatives (5#s = B/G# minor & 5bs = Db/Bb minor) are much easier to read in most cases. Pieces may modulate to remote keys such as the key of bVI. In the key of C, this would be a modulation from C to the key of Ab. Consider the ease of reading when transposing to other keys. In the key of D, the bVI key would be Bb, a logical choice. In the key of Ab, the bVI would be Fb major (8bs?). A more logical choice would be the using the enharmonic equivalent, E major. The melodic material in ex.7 side-slips up a half-step and back down. Rather than move from Bb up to Cb major, an editor may chose to move up to the enharmonic B major, avoiding Cb and Fb in the line. Ex.7
A thoughtful editor should consider how this looks when transposed for Bb and Eb instruments. For Bb instruments, the line would read better moving from C up to Db, not C up to C# major. The line is easier for Eb instruments to read moving from G up to Ab, not G up to G#. (ex.8a and 8b.) Ex.8a Exact transposition for Bb Better choice
Ex.8b Exact transposition for Eb Better choice
Use the same reasoning in reverse when transposing back to concert pitch. Ex.9 was written by a trumpet player. He wisely chose Ebm - Ab7 (ii7 - V7 in Db) rather than enharmonic C# major. Ex.9
When he transposed it down for concert instruments he ended up with the phrase shown in Ex.10a. The Dbm - Gb7 (ii7 - V7 in Cb) is a correct transposition (down a whole step from the original), but difficult to read. Choosing to write in B major avoids the Fb and Cb, as shown in ex.10b. Ex.10a Keys of Cb & Bb = difficult to read Ex.10b Keys of B & Bb = much easier to read
Avoid mixing enharmonic keys with melodic pitches and chord symbols. I once had to read a passage on a recording session with the melody written in G# minor and the chord symbols written in Ab minor. My right hand was thinking in 7bs, my left in 7#s. (Here was a case where the composer should have considered putting the piece up in A minor or down in G minor.) Keep the accidentals within a key throughout a passage. This applies to pitches and chord symbols. Avoid mixing chord symbols from different keys: use Abm7 - Db7 (ii7 - V7 of Gb) or G#m7 - C#7 (ii7 - V7 of F#), and avoid the confusing mixtures of Abm7 - C#7 or G#m7 - Db7. If it modulates to closely related keys, use the closest key signatures. This becomes more problematic the further one is from the key of C. Consider this harmonic progression in C major: Am7 F#ø7 B7 Em7 A7 Dm7 G7 C vi7 iiø7/iii V7/iii iii7 V7/ii ii7 V7 I These choices keep the passage in closely related keys. No one would choose Gbø7 - Cb7 - Fbm7 in place of F#ø7 - B7 - Em7. This same progression appeared in a published piece in the key of E major. Under the presumption that jazz players would rather see flats than sharps, the following chords were used. The first passage begins and ends in 4#s, but moves to far away key of 7b, 8b, and 9bs before returning to 4#s. The second passage makes it easier to see the modulations to the closely related sharp keys. Unnecessary remote modulations:
Closely related keys make reading easier for improvisation:
Diminished chords are often misspelled which can lead to confusion. In traditional music and in most jazz standards, diminished chords can be derived from the seventh degree of harmonic minor. Considering the closely related minor keys to F major one might expect to see a C#°7 (pointing to D minor), F#°7 (pointing to G minor), or a G#°7 (pointing to A minor). Many examples can be found in printed music where these are spelled as Db°7, Gb°7, Ab°7. While these chords to the listener might sound the same, it might be useful to the improviser to see spellings that reflect the close relation to the home key, and not the confusing conclusions that may be drawn from these enharmonic spellings. Consider these chords in D major: D - Bb°7. Taken out of a musical context, most horn players would prefer reading Bb to A#. Consider this in context though. The Bb°7 chord might suggest the vii°7 in the key of Cb minor, the relative of Dbb major, which is 10 flats! Using an A#°7 instead makes so much more sense. In the key of D major one might expect a modulation to closely related keys. B minor is a closely related key and shares the same key signature with D major The viii°7 chord of B minor is A#°7. Only one note changes between the two chords (A to A#). It is a much easier modulation from the key of 2#s (D major) to the key of 2#s (B minor) than to any key with ten flats. Jazz and contemporary music often makes use of non-traditional scales like modes of melodic minor, octatonic or diminished scales, and whole tone scales. When using melodic minor modes it is best to adhere to the traditional spelling of that mode. Diminished scales have eight tones but our musical alphabet only has seven letters, so choices have to be made. A whole tone scale can be spelled several different ways. Make choices based on the musical context. Choose pitches that utilize notes from the home key when possible. The sequential line in ex.11 is from a diminished scale, but the choices made by the editor make the sequence hard to see by using F# and Fn in the same passage. Write clearly and the music will be easier to read (ex.11b), less time will be spent rehearsing, and the musicians will have a higher opinion of the music. Ex.11a Difficult Ex.11 b Easier
Try grouping pitches into sets that relate to traditional scales. In a musical passage, look for similar spellings to those pitches in the home key. There is not one way to spell a diminished scale. All of the lines in ex.12 are from diminished scales, but different enharmonic notes are chosen considering the surrounding pitches in the passage. Ex.12 Diminished Scales
The same diminished scale might be spelled differently to reflect the accompanying chord symbol. Ex.13 shows an octatonic scale as it might be spelled for two different dominant 7th chords. Db and Eb correspond to the b9 and #9 of a C7 chord. C# and D# correspond to the major third and #11 of the A7 chord. How should the scale be written to correspond to F#7,Gb7, D#7 or Eb7 chords? Ex.13 Enharmonic scales spelled to correspond to chords
Choose pitches for whole tones scales that relate to the home key or to the corresponding chord symbol. A whole tone scale in context of a C7#5 might use these pitches: C - D - E - F# - G# - Bb; in a context of an Ab7#5: Ab - Bb - C - D - E - Gb. Use the traditional spellings for melodic minor even when superimposing over other chords as shown in ex.14. This may occasionally contradict other principles, but will make the passage easier to read. For instance, a Bb melodic minor may be used over an A7 chord. A passage using Bb melodic minor should be written consistent to that scale: Bb - C - Db - Eb - F - G - A. While an A7 has a C# as its 3rd, in the context of a Bb melodic minor over an A7 (A.K.A. superlocrian, diminished whole-tone, or altered scale) a Db may be easier to read in melodic scale and arpeggio passages. The C# is clear as the 3rd of A7 (ex.14b) but introduces some strange intervals (the augmented 2nd between Bb and C#, and the diminished 4th between C# and F.) Ex.14c shows the arpeggio line spelled using thirds. It is easy to see a relationship between an A7 and its tritone substitute Eb7 when using the Db. The notes in ex.14c are the 7 - b9 - 3 - b13 of A7, and the 3 - 5 - 7 - 9 of the Eb7 chord. Ex.14a Db instead of C# Ex.14b C# as 3rd Ex.14c Db enharmonic choice
Jazz and contemporary music is highly chromatic. Our well-tempered
system has its compromises and limitations. With transposing instruments,
musicians may be thinking in several different keys on the same piece.
Chromatic alterations and accidental choices are not always clear. There may
be several choices in any situation. Making the right choice enables the
musicians to get to the music quickly and accurately. Good choices
communicate vital information to the improvisers as they indicate context and
key relationships. This article cannot address all issues regarding note
choices, nor does it presume to answer the all the questions. I do hope that
it encourages some critical thinking and editing from ourselves as educators,
composers and arrangers as we try to communicate this music to our students
and colleagues.
Bert Ligon |
