LEXIS


Vorzeichen
Generalvorzeichen

調号(ちょうごう)
調子記号(ちょうしきごう)
調記号(ちょうきごう)

Key signature

Key signature

Key signatures indicate the key of an entire piece of music or a section of it. Therefore, they are always written directly behind the clef (for the ukulele, always the treble clef: 𝄞) and before the time signature.

Possible signatures are ♯ (pronounced: sharp) and ♭ (pronounced: flat). The signatures apply to all affected notes of a piece, unless they are marked with accidentals.

Accidentals

Accidentals

Accidentals apply to all subsequent notes within a measure, and in the case of slurred notes, also beyond the measure, regardless of the string on which they are played.

♯ (sharp)

Increase by 1/2 step

𝄪 (double sharp)

Increase by 2/2 steps

♭ (flat)

Decrease by 1/2 step

𝄫 (double flat)

Decrease by 2/2 steps

♮ (natural)

Revocation of previous accidental

The Ukulele is always chromatically tuned, that is, the distance between a fret and the next is a half tone step. It is therefore not possible to play quarter-tone steps on an Ukulele (except approximately by bending).

Enharmonic Equivalent

Enharmonic Equivalent

On chromatically tuned instruments, the smallest possible step size is the halftone step. As a result, a sharp note is identical with the flat of the neighboring natural, when the natural is one full step away, or the next natural itself when it is only half a step away. G♯ is therefore identical to A♭, B♯ to C. The reverse is also true: C♭ is identical to B.