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Sometimes we may want to use sharps or flats in our music which are not in the key signature. This is possible, and we use something called accidentals.
Before moving on to this lesson, make sure you understand key signatures as well as sharps, flats and naturals.
If you do, lets get into it...
Accidentals
Any note can be raised to a sharp, or lowered to a flat within the piece.
To do it accidentals are used, they are the same sharp and flat symbols shown in lesson 8. The accidental is always drawn next to the note you want to change. It is drawn to the left, before the note, because you will need to see it before playing the note. It goes within the same line or space as the note head, not above or below.
When an accidental is used, it applies to all of the same notes in the bar. So the sign is only needed once per bar. To remove it, the natural is used.
Unlike a key signature, the accidental only applies to the note at the same pitch, so the F# in the example below does not apply to the other F#, and both symbols would be needed.
The accidental does apply to a tie over the bar line, but will need to be used again after it to continue.
Next lesson is the final lesson in the Grade 1 series, it covers how to group notes together within a bar, to make the music as clear as possible.
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