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> The usual answer is that you are only supposed to use each letter name once in any given scale. And why is that important? Answer: This lets you write the ke
by im3w1l 4y ago
> The usual answer is that you are only supposed to use each letter name once in any given scale.
And why is that important? Answer: This lets you write the key signature once, and then not have to bother with accidentals in front of notes.
- thaumasiotes 4y agoWell, no, that would only work if you were committed to never using notes that weren't in the key signature. That would be an unusual choice.
- im3w1l 4y agoNot having to use accidentals for in-key notes still reduces the needed number substantially.
- iainmerrick 4y agoRight, but if your tune mostly uses conventional major and minor scales (which most do!) you mostly won’t need accidentals. Also, you’ll be able to transpose to any other key just by shifting the letter names up or down and changing the key signature. That’s a really interesting and useful property. Also also, the notes with accidentals won’t change when you transpose (although the accidentals themselves will need rewriting). Transposing music would be hellish without this system!
- PeterisP 4y agoDepends on the music genre probably, there are oh so many song arrangements that never use notes outside of the key signature.
- dahart 4y agoPerhaps more succinctly, you always write any two consecutive notes of a diatonic scale on two different lines of the staff. It would be bad if your in-key scale looked like it had two notes on the same line and then a jump of a third. Note this is true even when you have accidentals! It’s a way to keep the intention or semantics of notes more clear, and more easily readable, regardless of the pitch interval. Like how the article talks about the distinction between an augmented 2nd and a diminished 3d, the notation is designed to help clarify that distinction.