Fb - Don't Ask Me Why - PG Music Forums

In the key of Bb, any way to notate Fb? I know, dumb question. I'm trying to keep one of my players happy.

Randy

If you mean the chord Fb, then no, I don't think so. That would be a good Wishlist item.

If you mean the note Fb, then yes. Right-click on the note in Notation Edit Mode, Edit Note, and use the Force Accidental dropdown to choose Flat.

There are plenty of times I prefer to see the enharmonic spelling of Fb, particularly when there are lots of Eb notes in the same measure, which then requires the natural sign for E. Fb would be better in that case. It really makes reading easier if you reduce the number of accidentals and follow the scale in effect there. Same principle for Cb, E# and B#.

I could see a problem, though, if the chord was an E and the note in that chord was an Fb. That might cause people sight-reading to shake their head.

Matt, that's exactly what I'm dealing with here.

Unfortunatly, the Force Accidental doesn't work here. If the note shown is E# and the dropdown list showed a Fb, I would think you could force it to show the Fb. Unfortunatly, if you dropdown f and force it to flat it produces a E#.

Perhaps I'm doing this wrong or have an incorrect option. I've changed a lot of notes by forcing but can't seem to get around this one.

Randy

OK, but E# is not the same note as Fb, which is why you cannot force it to be.

E# is enharmonically F natural.

Fb is enharmonically E natural.

For that kind of thing, I will print the chart to paper, use whiteout and a pen to correct things as desired, then make a photocopy of that to hand out.

A workaround, but also a Git-R-Done.

--Mac

Quote:

OK, but E# is not the same note as Fb, which is why you cannot force it to be.

E# is enharmonically F natural.

Fb is enharmonically E natural.

Oops. Should have read:

"Unfortunatly, the Force Accidental doesn't work here. If the note shown is E "Natural" and the dropdown list showed a Fb, I would think you could force it to show the Fb. Unfortunatly, if you dropdown f and force it to flat it produces a E "Natural"."

No Natural on the keyboard. Brain Fade.

Randy

Quote:

For that kind of thing, I will print the chart to paper, use whiteout and a pen to correct things as desired, then make a photocopy of that to hand out.

A workaround, but also a Git-R-Done.

--Mac

Yes Mac. This is ultimately what I ended up doing.

Thanks

Randy, what version of BIAB do you use?

Quote:

Randy, what version of BIAB do you use?

Band-in-a-Box for Windows

Version 2008.5 (265)

Ah. I'm not precisely sure when support for enharmonic notes was implemented, but I'm reasonably certain it was after your version.

EDIT. It was introduced in Build #301 of version 2010.5. Here is the announcement:

Added: Notes like Fb, Cb, E#, B# can now be entered. To do this, right click on a note (like F), and set the forced accidental to #, and the note will appear as E#.

Quote:

Ah. I'm not precisely sure when support for enharmonic notes was implemented, but I'm reasonably certain it was after your version.

EDIT. It was introduced in Build #301 of version 2010.5. Here is the announcement:

Added: Notes like Fb, Cb, E#, B# can now be entered. To do this, right click on a note (like F), and set the forced accidental to #, and the note will appear as E#.

Well, I guess that ends this thread.

Thanks Matt.

You're welcome. Mystery solved. But the thread can't end without me encouraging you to upgrade!