Wednesday, 10th March 2010

Accidentals -Sharps,Flats and Naturals

Now that we've got you reading and counting, it's time to learn some more really important notation symbols - sharps, flats and naturals.

How Notes Work

Playing and Reading Accidentals

Accidental Exercises

Some Interesting Lines

How The Note System Works

There are twelve different notes or pitches in (Western) music and they are divided into two groups - natural notes and accidentals, the sharps and flats. Each note is separated by a distance of one semitone or half step, which converts to one fret space on your bass.

(nb - each of the twelve notes are repeated at different positions on the neck of the bass).

So far in the Libster Reading Lessons, we've only looked at the first note group - natural notes - A B C D E F and G, so it's time we had a look at the accidentals.

If you have a look at a piano keyboard, you will find that some keys are white and some are black. Well, the naturals are the white keys, and the accidentals are the black keys, that fit in-between some of the white keys.

Here are the notation symbols for accidentals...

A very important thing to take notice of...

Playing and Reading Accidentals

The accidentals symbols are placed in front of notes to alter their pitch and therefore where you should play them on the fingerboard.

In notation, if you come across a sharp placed in front of a note, then you should play the note one fret (semitone) above the pitch. For example, if you come across a low F with a sharp in front of it, then play one fret up, on the second fret of the E string - where you find the note F#.

If there is a flat sign before a note, then play it one fret lower than where you would ordinarily play it.

If there is a natural sign before the note, then just play the normal, natural note.

Here's a fingerboard diagram of the first 5 frets, with all of the sharps and flats. Pick-up your bass and see if you can locate each of these notes.

Some really important rules about reading accidentals in notation are ...

They last until the end of the bar, then they are negated. So if you come across an accidental, say a C#,then the rest of the Cs in that bar are to be played as C#s. When you get to the bar line at the end of the bar, this cancels the accidental, so you're back to playing C naturals, until any new accidentals are indicated. This is an easy rule to forget, so look out!

A natural sign cancels a sharp or flat sign.

Accidentals only affect the pitch of the note that they precede. So if there is a # sign before an F note, that means you only change the F, not the other notes.

Here is an example and explanation of accidentals in action...

Accidental Exercises

Time for some accidental reading exercises. Be sure to locate the correct note on your fingerboard before you play it. Each of the exercises should sound like a half-decent melody. If it doesn't, the chances are that you are playing a wrong note. So, take your time and double check each note.

n.b. - I haven't given any fingering guides here - it's up to you to decide the most sensible position and finger for each note.

Some Interesting Lines

Here are some fun lines to play, which should consolidate all of the reading skills that you've picked up in the Libster Reading Lessons up to now...

So, time to move ahead again. In lesson 8, we'll be learning some more rhythmic symbols, among other things...

Go To Reading Lesson 8

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