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Concept
Flat (music)
Summary
In music, flat (Italian bemolle for "soft B") means "lower in pitch". Flat is the opposite of sharp, which is a raising of pitch. In musical notation, flat means "lower in pitch by one semitone (half step)", notated using the symbol which is derived from a stylised lowercase 'b'. For instance, the music below has a key signature with three flats (indicating either E major or C minor) and the note, D, has a flat accidental.
{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c'' {
\clef treble \key es \major \time 4/4 des1
} }
Under twelve-tone equal temperament, D for instance is enharmonically equivalent to C, and G is equivalent to F. In any other tuning system, such enharmonic equivalences in general do not exist. To allow extended just intonation, composer Ben Johnston uses a sharp as an accidental to indicate a note is raised 70.6 cents (ratio 25:24), and a flat to indicate a note is lowered 70.6 cents.
In intonation, flat can also mean "slightly lower in pitch" (by some unspecified amount). If two simultaneous notes are slightly out-of-tune, the lower-pitched one (assuming the higher one is properly pitched) is "flat" with respect to the other. Furthermore, the verb flatten means to lower the pitch of a note, typically by a small musical interval.
Flats are used in the key signatures of
F major / D minor (B)
B major / G minor (adds E)
E major / C minor (adds A)
A major / F minor (adds D)
D major / B minor (adds G)
G major / E minor (adds C)
C major / A minor (adds F)
The order of flats in the key signatures of music notation, following the circle of fifths, is B, E, A, D, G, C and F (mnemonics for which include Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father and Before Eating A Doughnut Get Coffee First).
Double flats also exist, which look like (similar to two flats, ) and lower a note by two semitones, or a whole step.
{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c'' {
\clef treble \time 4/4 beses1
} }
A quarter-tone flat, half flat, or demiflat indicating the use of quarter tones, may be marked with various symbols including a flat with a slash () or a reversed flat sign ().
Official source
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