Current Events > Why is piano music written in keys with like thirty sharps?!

(+) Yeah! (+)

I just started looking at one with SIX SHARPS.

It has a dang sharp on the E.

???

E sharp?

Isn't that just the F note?

Cynrascal posted...

E sharp?

Isn't that just the F note?

Yes and no. E sharp and F are enharmonic, meaning you push the same key on the piano, but this isn't the same thing as being the same note. The difference is a matter of context. The piece is written based on a certain scale (in this case, F# major), making E# the seventh scale degree. This wants to resolve to the tonic (F#). An F, by contrast, would be the flat-tonic, which kind of doesn't make sense. The idea is that a heptatonic scale based on major has one note for each "letter," so to speak, this being the reason they even have sharp and flat variants in the first place instead of just naming them A through L.

Wait so there's just at least six accidentals against the key signature?

TotallyNotAGirl posted...

Wait so there's just at least six accidentals against the key signature?

I think he means the key signature has a lot of sharps. accidentals are specifically ones not in the key signature

anyway for what it's worth usually piano music is easier to play when it has a few sharps/flats. like, from a physical perspective it helps if you're not playing almost entirely on the white keys

I think I get it now. It has a section in the parallel minor, which would be the ever-popular three-sharps key of F# minor.

Piano music is a whole different world, lol.

TotallyNotAGirl posted...

Wait so there's just at least six accidentals against the key signature?

The key signature itself has six sharps.

It also has a section with one sharp. Though I've honestly lost track of what scale it's on, lol. Could be E minor, could be A dorian... Maybe even G major? I'm struggling to find the tonic. But in any case, it has a section with one sharp.

Idk I can only read bass clef

MrResetti posted...

Idk I can only read bass clef

That's almost me. I'm trying to learn as I go, but I still regularly have to stop and count up/down from a note I know.

6 sharps is either F# major or D# minor.

1 sharp G major or E minor.

Pianos are tempered, and a composer may choose a key because that scale suits their intentions better. Some scales are notably brighter or darker due to the temper.

Other possible explanations might be that the key was chosen to fit the melody or other parts to particular instrument or voice range (it might be an accompaniment or transcription).

It might even be done for the sake of difficulty, perhaps a study, or a piece originally written for an examination.

Lots of reasons the tougher keys crop up, this is just a few of the options.

OP makes no sense to me why would someone care how many sharps/flats a piece has?

NO2_Fiend posted...

OP makes no sense to me why would someone care how many sharps/flats a piece has?

For piano, it's largely a reading issue.

Other instruments do have preferences though. Woodwind in general prefer flat keys but strings like sharps.

Naturally this doesn't apply particularly at the highest levels, but is a thing for more intermediate instrumentalists.

Mussurana posted...

6 sharps is either F# major or D# minor.

1 sharp G major or E minor.

In terms of key, yes. In terms of scale, not necessarily. C major, D dorian, E phrygian, F lydian, G mixolydian, A minor and B locrian all have the same key signature, for example.

True, but the common modes and requisite muscle memory should be covered by practising your scales no?

Major and minor scales (both harmonic and melodic cover these bases). Unless of course you're playing something in one of the rarer modes? (Generally indicates early music, modern music, or possibly something transcribed from outside the Western art music tradition.)

Can add difficulty I agree.

I'm getting orchestra ptsd

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

In terms of key, yes. In terms of scale, not necessarily. C major, D dorian, E phrygian, F lydian, G mixolydian, A minor and B locrian all have the same key signature, for example.

Nobody calls E phrygian, E phrygian. It's C ionion/major

TotallyNotAGirl posted...

Nobody calls E phrygian, E phrygian. It's C ionion/major

That's when you're talking about keys. There is no key of E phrygian. E phrygian is a scale that can be played in the key of A minor. But calling the scale C ionian is incorrect because it misidentifies the tonic.