Anyone know why we call them accidentals?
I know they used to be called "Musica Ficta" and "feigned music" but how and when did we start calling them accidentals?
Calling them accidentals actually makes them sound like they are the wrong note. In doing so, some (not all) accidentals actually do have a strange sound to the ear (Like a C major scale with a b flat instead of a b) They usually do sound a bit different. I think calling them accidentals increases peoples anxiety to playing notes they aren't familiar with as a new student, which could actually cause some problems.
adjective
1 happening by chance, unintentionally, or unexpectedly : a verdict of accidental death | the damage might have been accidental.
2 incidental; subsidiary : the location is accidental and contributes nothing to the tension between the characters in the poem.
3 Philosophy (in Aristotelian thought) – relating to or denoting properties that are not essential to a thing's nature.
noun
1 Music – a sign indicating a momentary departure from the key signature by raising or lowering a note.
2 Ornithology – another term for vagrant.
I figure that the musical "accidental" relates more to the adjectival meanings #2 & #3 above: incidental; subsidiary; not essential. Still, I've played a few #1 accidental accidentals in my time.
Another interesting (and not unrelated) musical term: chromatic.
or we could just go ahead and call them "intentionals", which (still keeping to the "lemony snicket" spirit) used here means "something done on purpose or done with a specific result in mind". lol.
PS one more bit of literature for the local "book club" to discuss! └┘
i agree w/ the whole incidental thing, which is true, for they aren't on accident, I can see the terms flat and sharp, but other than that that, nothin!
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