Bend it behind the nut to go from F to E (on a guitar). Make sure to say, "I am Iron Man"
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E#. Wait, what?
- Thread starter comatosedragon
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Bend it behind the nut to go from F to E (on a guitar). Make sure to say, "I am Iron Man"
The more rambling on & on I see about music notation, the less inclined I am to learn more about it.
This was pretty simple, E# is F. Just that simple, but we now have six pages of why.
This was pretty simple, E# is F. Just that simple, but we now have six pages of why.
okcrum
in your chest
I've got a chord chart app for standards that allows you to easily transpose to any key. I see E# and B# a fair amount, these days, as well as Cb and Fb. 
There are a maximum of 7 sharps in a key signature (FCGDAEB). You're right though, C# major has an E# in it. The way you find the number of sharps or name of a major key signature is by looking at the next note after the last sharped note. For example, if a key has two sharps (F and C), then one note above C is D, which makes it D Major. Or, if a key is called E major, you know that the note before E is D, and you need four sharps (FCGD) for the last sharp to be D. Now, E# major is kind of a ridiculous scale because it includes double sharps. It would be wise to transcribe that key.
I would have sided with you. You're band mates seem uneducated about music. No one that I've ever known has called it an E#, to call it an F is universal and imo the "right way".
I wonder how many of those arguing that E# is not correct under certain circumstances will be able to swallow a bit of pride and learn something before the thread gets closed. My prediction - nil.
OK, but let the record show you just told me that two notes that have the same pitch, and thus would sound identical are somehow two different notes. So if you called out E# and I played an F, you would stop the song to call me out for my stupidity, even though I was classically trained, and had my first theory exam at a major university at the age of eight, and received rather high marks. E# is F, no matter what you call it. Two notes of the same pitch are THE SAME note. Anything more is semantics. Enough!
IMO. Music theory aside and from a psychological standpoint your band leader was just trying "rub your nose in it" and assess his musical superiority by making you feel like a fool.
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Silly debate. If it happens again, play F and don't worry about it. If little things like this bother you, everything is eventually going to bother you and the whole scene will cease to be fun. There is also a good argument here to learn all the notes up and down the fretboard, not only in the correct and most commonly used nomenclature, but also in various aberrations (such as E# for F) that the less informed musician may refer to. This way you can just get it, smile, be able to play it, and move on. This way it will be the other guy that demonstrates ignorance and you avoid confrontation. Those with a lesser knowledge base are "always right". It is a defense mechanism
Why sweat the small stuff?
Koog
Why sweat the small stuff?
Koog
Well, I'm not so sure. If this guy really knows his theory, and if it true that, in whatever key he was playing in, the technically/theoretically correct name for that note is E#, then why didn't he respond to OP's objection by simply pointing out that it's the same note that is usually called F. I suppose it's possible that he knew what he was talking about, but if his goal was to get his bassist to play the right notes, that would be the obvious thing to say. And if his goal was to make OP feel stupid, he could have lectured him about music theory and explained why "E#" was the correct nomenclature.
But that's not what he said. What he said was that E# is the note you get when you bend an E. My bet is the guy doesn't know the first thing about theory, and doesn't even realize that "E#" sounds weird to most musicians in most contexts. I think he just knows that when he bends a note, it makes it "sharp," so if the note happens to be an E the bending produces "E#". He probably doesn't even realize that it's equivalent to an F. This is why I asked (snarkily) in an earlier post what he calls it if he bends an F#.
Context. If you are in a pop rock environment if is safe to assume that people have little knowledge of music theory. No point in confusing people.
In a Jazz environment I would totally say "play a E# sharp". I am knowlegeable but adjust my communication to my audience to avoid looking like a A hole.
In a Jazz environment I would totally say "play a E# sharp". I am knowlegeable but adjust my communication to my audience to avoid looking like a A hole.
The more rambling on & on I see about music notation, the less inclined I am to learn more about it.
This was pretty simple, E# is F. Just that simple, but we now have six pages of why.
SO. MUCH. THIS.
If you're not keen on E#, then you'll be even less thrilled to hear that Bbb is also a note. (Used in diminished seventh chords where the seventh is double flatted).
Uh, just for the record, this makes no sense, since no one would know what you intended to be playing and the note is the same physically in a tempered system. The only place the distinction is necessary is in communication about music, not the playing of it. As many have correctly noted, E# is not only legitimate, but correct in certain keys, notwithstanding that it is the equivalent/same note as F. Therefore, it would disrupt the theoretical (and yes, certainly annoying, especially in certain styles of music) context to notate it as an F in those keys.
However, what makes the most sense, and is the most annoying, is for anyone to give two poops or argue about it in the context of learning a non-classical tune in a regular old band. Some theory has its place in this context for sure, but this is stupid (plus as many have noted, this guy was wrong anyway - sharp means a half step, which is the note on the first fret of your E string (hehehe) no matter whatchoo call it)....
The more rambling on & on I see about music notation, the less inclined I am to learn more about it.
This was pretty simple, E# is F. Just that simple, but we now have six pages of why.
Right, it *is* simple, so it's no reason to not learn theory, just a reason to avoid forum babble.
I have learned some theory, but stuff like this just puts me off learning any further.
