Reading Music Page 3 of 3

The smallest distance between two notes is called a ‘semitone’ (U.S. ‘halfstep’). Two semitones equal a tone. It is easy to visualise this if you use a piano keyboard:

B to C is a semitone, but D to E is a full tone because they are separated by a black note. What are the black notes then? They are referred to as ‘accidentals’ , or, sharps and flats. You will notice that an accidental is placed before a note on the staff and after a note in letter form.

The ‘Key’ of a piece is indicated by the ‘Key Signature’. An accidental (sharpened or flattened note) may occur in the ‘Key Signature’ thus implying that the note on that line/space is affected throughout the piece.

Each major key adheres to a set pattern of tones (t) and semitones (st) and once you know this pattern you can construct any major key. The pattern is: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. Using C major as an example, let’s look at the pattern used to construct a major key:

The most common major keys in traditional music are D, G, and A, because these keys best suit the instruments employed. When there are sharps (#s) in the key signature, the key name is one note-name above the last sharp, and that note is sharpened throughout the piece.

The G remains sharpened until it is cancelled by the bar-line, or it may be returned to its usual pitch by the use of the natural sign (#).

Similarly, if either F# or C# appears with a ’natural’ (#), the note is then sounded as an F/C natural (white notes on the keyboard) for that bar.

The G remains sharpened until it is cancelled by the bar-line, or it may be returned to its usual pitch by the use of the natural sign ( ).

Similarly, if either F# or C# appears with a ’natural’ ( ), the note is then sounded as an F/C natural (white notes on the keyboard) for that bar.

The bar-line marks a return to the notes indicated in the key signature. If the note returns to its sharpened state within the same bar, another accidental must be given to cancel the natural sign.

The distance between two notes is called an ‘Interval’. The important intervals in Irish music are the third, fifth and eighth (or octave): It is important to be familiar with the sound of the 5th and 8th, particularly for tuning purposes.

When there is a sharp in the key signature, the key name is one note-name above the last sharp. The interval of a fifth is also important in understanding sharp key signatures: starting with F# - the first sharp in a key signature - the sequence continues in fifths: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#.

Flat keys are constructed in the same pattern. The sequence however is in fourths, the first flat always being Bb: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb. With the exception of F major where the symbol is one flat (Bb) you can find the key name of a flat key by looking at the second last flat. Flat key signatures are not common in traditional music.

Each major key has a ‘relative minor’ key which is three semitones below; therefore, the absence of an accidental will symbolise either the key of C major or the key of A minor, one sharp will symbolise G major or E minor, one flat will symbolise F major or D minor, and two flats for Bb or G minor. A tune will usually end on the key name note (‘the tonic’).

Many traditional tunes are in minor keys, or, more correctly, they are modal in structure. The common minor sounding modes found in Irish music are the Aeolian, Dorian, and Mixolydian modes which are what traditional musicians are referring to when they talk about minor keys. The main difference between the Aeolian mode and the Classical minor key is that the minor key has a sharpened seventh but the Aeolian doesn’t.

For now it should suffice to know that when a tune is said to be in a minor key (usually e, g, a, and d minor) you should flatten the third and the seventh of the scale. Minor tunes tend to be melancholic, ‘soulful’, expressive tunes.