Enharmonic

In music, an enharmonic is a note which is the equivalent of some other note, but spelled differently. For example, in twelve-tone equal temperament (the modern system of musical tuning in the west), the notes C sharp and D flat are enharmonically equivalent - that is, they are represented by the same key (on a musical keyboard, for example), and thus are identical in pitch, although they have different names and diatonic functionality.

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This is in contrast to meantone intonation—in which the enharmonic equivalents actually do differ slightly in pitch. For example, consider G sharp and A flat. Call middle C's frequency x. Then high C has a frequency of 2x. The classic 1/4 comma meantone tuning has perfect major thirds, which means major thirds with a frequency ratio of exactly 4 to 5.

Music: Music is a natural intuitive phenomenon operating in the three worlds of time, pitch, energy, and under the three distinct and interrelated organization structures of rhythm, harmony, and melody....

Equivalent: REDIRECT Equivalence...

Equal temperament: Equal temperament is a scheme of musical tuning in which the octave is divided into a series of equal steps (equal frequency ratios). The best known example of such a system is twelve-tone equal temperament, sometimes abbreviated to 12-TET, which is nowadays used in most Western music. Other equal t...