Sharp

What it means

The sharp raises a natural note by a semitone. C becomes C♯, F becomes F♯; the note name receives the suffix “sharp.” It is the counterpart to the flat and belongs, together with it and the natural, to the three basic signs with which the twelve semitones are derived from the seven natural notes.

In the notation

The sign consists of two vertical and two slightly rising horizontal strokes. As an accidental it stands to the left of the notehead and applies to that note in its octave position until the barline. In the key signature it stands at the beginning of the line after the clef, applies then to all octave positions, and remains in force until a change; the order follows fixedly the sequence F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯. Two semitones of raising do not require two sharps side by side but the specially shaped double sharp.

Musical use

In practice the sharp serves above all three purposes. It forms the sharp keys, whose key signature increases by one sign with each fifth upward. It creates the leading tone in minor by raising the seventh degree — this never appears in the key signature but always as an accidental within the bar. And it creates the leading tones of secondary dominants, with which one briefly moves to another degree; in terms of harmonic function the sonority remains a dominant to the degree concerned.

The sharp is to be distinguished from enharmonic reinterpretation: C♯ and D♭ sound the same on the piano, but the spelling says which degree is meant and where the note leads onward.

Performance practice

With a new key, say the sharps aloud and name the notes, not just their number. When reading, take care that a sharp within the bar affects only the notated octave position — the same note an octave higher needs a sign of its own. On instruments with variable intonation it is worthwhile to lead the leading tone closely toward its goal note; it strives upward and must not lie too low.