Flat (music)

In music, flat (Italian bemolle for "soft B") means "lower in pitch". Flat is the opposite of sharp, which is a raising of pitch. In musical notation, flat means "lower in pitch by one semitone (half step)", notated using the symbol ♭ which is derived from a stylised lowercase 'b'.[1][2] For instance, the music below has a key signature with three flats (indicating either E♭ major or C minor) and the note, D♭, has a flat accidental.

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c'' { \clef treble \key es \major \time 4/4 des1 } }

Under twelve-tone equal temperament, D♭ for instance is enharmonically equivalent to C♯, and G♭ is equivalent to F♯. In any other tuning system, such enharmonic equivalences in general do not exist. To allow extended just intonation, composer Ben Johnston uses a sharp as an accidental to indicate a note is raised 70.6 cents (ratio 25:24), and a flat to indicate a note is lowered 70.6 cents.[3]

In intonation, flat can also be used as an adjective to mean "slightly lower in pitch" (by some unspecified amount). If two simultaneous notes are slightly out-of-tune, the lower-pitched one (assuming the higher one is properly pitched) is "flat" with respect to the other. Furthermore, the verb flatten means to lower the pitch of a note, typically by a small musical interval.

Key signatures

Flats are used in the key signatures of

  1. F major / D minor (B♭)
  2. B♭ major / G minor (adds E♭)
  3. E♭ major / C minor (adds A♭)
  4. A♭ major / F minor (adds D♭)
  5. D♭ major / B♭ minor (adds G♭)
  6. G♭ major / E♭ minor (adds C♭)
  7. C♭ major / A♭ minor (adds F♭)

The order of flats in the key signatures of music notation, following the circle of fifths, is B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ and F♭ (mnemonics for which include Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father and Before Eating A Doughnut Get Coffee First). Some people choose to remember the order of flats simply with BEAD GCF (read: bead jee see eff)

Double flats also exist, which look like double flat (similar to two flats, ♭♭) and lower a note by two semitones, or a whole step. Historically, in order to raise a double flat to a single flat, it was required to use the notation ♮♭. In modern scores it is acceptable to simply denote this with a regular single flat ♭.

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c'' { \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4 beses2 bes2 \accidentalStyle modern beses2 bes2 } }

A quarter-tone flat, half flat, or demiflat indicating the use of quarter tones, may be marked with various symbols including a flat with a slash (flat stroke) or a reversed flat sign (half flat). A three-quarter-tone flat, flat and a half or sesquiflat, is represented by a demiflat and a regular flat (three quarter flat).

{ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c'' { \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4 ceh1 deseh } }

Although very uncommon, a triple flat (triple flat) can sometimes be found.[4] It lowers a note three semitones, or a whole tone and a semitone.[5]

Unicode

The Unicode character ♭ (U+266D) can be found in the block Miscellaneous Symbols; its HTML entity is ♭. Other assigned flat signs are as follows:

  • U+1D12B 𝄫 MUSICAL SYMBOL DOUBLE FLAT
  • U+1D133 𝄳 MUSICAL SYMBOL QUARTER TONE FLAT

See also

References
  1. Bruce Benward; Marilyn Saker (2003). Music in Theory and Practice. Vol. 1 (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill. p. 6. Flat (♭)—lowers the pitch a half step.
  2. Flat Archived 2021-07-15 at the Wayback Machine, Glossary, Naxos Records
  3. John Fonville. "Ben Johnston's Extended Just Intonation- A Guide for Interpreters", p. 109, Perspectives of New Music, vol. 29, no. 2 (Summer 1991), pp. 106–137. "...the 25/24 ratio is the sharp (♯) ratio ... this raises a note approximately 70.6 cents."
  4. Byrd, Donald (October 2018). "Extremes of Conventional Music Notation".
  5. Theoretically, the same principle could be applied when canceling the symbol of a triple flat or beyond within the same bar. Eric, Wen (July 2012). "E-quadruple flat: Tovey's Whimsy".
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