Stephen Smolley
New member
This isn't just a question about sharps and flats, but music theory in general.
One time, I was working on a musical project, and for all the black keys I used #'s, giving C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B. Someone pointed out to me that this was some sort of conceptual error and that it was "proper" to write Eb and Bb instead of D# and A#. I couldn't help but scratch my head at this since D# is the same as Eb and I couldn't see any point in switching between the two. If anything it is more confusing that way.
On that note, (no pun intended) I never really agreed with centralizing music around the C major diatonic scale to begin with. It permeates everything: Sheet music, music theory, the traditional piano layout, roman numeral analysis and probably other stuff I'm not yet aware of. I always wondered what the point was, or if there is no point and it's just an appeal to musical tradition. After all, the C major diatonic scale is just one scale out of dozens, and perhaps basing everything on the C scale is just adding needless confusion to everything aside from it. For example, scale fingerings are completely different in C# than in C. But physically and mathematically, there is negligible difference between the two. Why not just treat all notes the same, since they're all the same to begin with?
I understand the purpose of the 12 note scale. The 12 note scale includes notes with consonant frequency relationships, like (approx.) 2:3, 3:4, 4:5 and others. Using 13 notes would include proportionately fewer consonant notes and more dissonant notes.
I think it's detrimental to include all this conceptual baggage on top of what is probably a lot simpler than what it's made to be. But perhaps I'm missing something.
One time, I was working on a musical project, and for all the black keys I used #'s, giving C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B. Someone pointed out to me that this was some sort of conceptual error and that it was "proper" to write Eb and Bb instead of D# and A#. I couldn't help but scratch my head at this since D# is the same as Eb and I couldn't see any point in switching between the two. If anything it is more confusing that way.
On that note, (no pun intended) I never really agreed with centralizing music around the C major diatonic scale to begin with. It permeates everything: Sheet music, music theory, the traditional piano layout, roman numeral analysis and probably other stuff I'm not yet aware of. I always wondered what the point was, or if there is no point and it's just an appeal to musical tradition. After all, the C major diatonic scale is just one scale out of dozens, and perhaps basing everything on the C scale is just adding needless confusion to everything aside from it. For example, scale fingerings are completely different in C# than in C. But physically and mathematically, there is negligible difference between the two. Why not just treat all notes the same, since they're all the same to begin with?
I understand the purpose of the 12 note scale. The 12 note scale includes notes with consonant frequency relationships, like (approx.) 2:3, 3:4, 4:5 and others. Using 13 notes would include proportionately fewer consonant notes and more dissonant notes.
I think it's detrimental to include all this conceptual baggage on top of what is probably a lot simpler than what it's made to be. But perhaps I'm missing something.