It’s also interesting to learn what other languages call the accidental signs. What do different countries call accidentals? The rounded B turned into the flat symbol and the sharp and natural sign are both derived from the square version of the letter B. The B used to represent the B natural was a square B. The B that was used to represent a Bb was a rounded letter B. This is the reason that the symbol for a flat looks like the letter B today. When this was labelled, rather than having the accidental signs we have today, there were simply two different versions of the letter B, one to represent B natural and one to represent Bb. The only note that had the possibility of an accidental was B, which was either flat or natural.

In Gregorian chant music, a much more limited set of notes was used to those that we use today. It was before the time of the keys we are familiar with today and was based on a set of modes. It was usually sung by choirs made up of men and boys in churches, or men and women in chapels. It is music of the Roman Catholic Church and is an unaccompanied sacred song, written in Latin. This genre of music was around in the 9th and 10th century.

What is Gregorian chant music?įirst, I’ll do a quick introduction to Gregorian chant music. Similarly if a Bb is followed by a B, the B is labelled as B natural, so a natural can either raise or lower a note by a semitone, depending on the original accidental. if there is a C# followed by a C, the C is labelled as C natural. A natural is used to cancel out the previous accidental on a note, e.g. A sharp always raises a note by a semitone, while a flat always lowers a note by a semitone.

This was notated by two different letter b’s and developed later into the notation we know today.Īn accidental is a musical symbol that raises or lowers the pitch of a note by a semitone. At this time, the only accidental needed was to distinguish between B and Bb. Why, for example, does the symbol for a flat look like the letter b? I’d been wondering this for a while, so decided I’d find out.Īccidentals were first used in Gregorian chant music in the 9th and 10th centuries. What they probably don’t know, however, is where the notation itself comes from. Any music reader will be able to identify the symbols for accidentals – sharps, flats and naturals.

Flat music symbol