UNIT 10: Alterations in Music.

Alterations.

Alterations: Signs placed in front of notes to indicate changes in how the note should be played. Alterations usually signal that a note should be played higher or lower than it appears on the staff. 

Natural and Altered Notes.

Natural Notes: Notes with no alterations. 
All white keys on the Piano are “natural notes”

Altered Notes: Notes with some alteration. 
Correspond to black keys on the piano. 

Tone and Semitone.

Semitone: The distance between any one of the 12 notes to the next note. For instance the distance between note 10 and note 11 is a semitone. 

Tone: The equivalent of two semitones. For example the distance between the 6th and 8th notes would be a “tone”. 

Sharp and Flat.

Sharp: Raises a note one semitone. For instance if put a “sharp” in front of Note 1, it would move up to Note 2.  

Flat: Lowers a note one semitone. For instance if you put a “flat” in front of Note 10 it would become Note 9. 

Enharmonic notes.

Enharmonic (adjective): having the same pitch but written in different notation. In other words, enharmonic notes are notes that have the same pitch on a piano but have different note spellings.

Example: C Sharp = D Flat or G Sharp= A Flat.