Accidental

Any sharp, flat or natural sign written in front of a note to raise, lower or restore its pitch for that bar.

Accidentals modify a note away from the key signature, and their effect lasts only to the end of the bar in which they appear, after which the key signature takes over again unless the note is marked natural. Guitarists meet them most often when reading melodies that borrow notes from outside the key, and when interpreting printed blues lines where the flat fifth and the major third coexist. In tab, accidentals are implicit in the fret number, which is one reason tab readers often miss the harmonic logic of a passage.

Example: A sharp sign printed before an F in a piece whose key signature contains no sharps raises that note for the rest of the bar only.

Accidental

See also