Noisemaking 101 - Sharps, Flats and Naturals
Introduction
In previous tutorials I've talked about the bass clef notes and the treble clef notes. In order to truly understand all of the notes in the music language we need to add sharps and flats.
First, you must know that the notes I covered in the previous articles are natural notes. From the natural notes you will get sharps and flats. To make a note sharp or flat you will need to move from a natural note up or down by a semi-tone.
Semi-tones
A semi-tone is one half step in music. In Western music it is also the smallest increment you can change a note. On guitar you simple need to move to the next fret to create a semi-tone. If you go back and forth between semi-tones you will get the music from Jaws.
Sharps
To play a sharp you need to go one semi-tone higher in pitch. On the piano this would be to your right. With a left handed guitar that would also mean moving one semi-tone to the right.
Flats
To make a note flat you need to do the opposite of making a note sharp. To do this, simply play a note that is one semi-tone lower. On piano you would go one note to the left.
Naturals
As mentioned before naturals are unaltered notes but sometimes you'll want to change an altered note back to a natural note. By placing a natural sign beside a note you are indicating that a note is returning to its unaltered position.
Rules to Note
In all of these cases the accidental (sharp, flat or natural) is only in effect for one bar. Another way to put this is once a bar line is written the changed note goes back to its original position.
Questions?
Please ask your music teacher for more information about shaprs, flats and naturals as this is an important concept to learn in music.
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