enharmonic
/ˌɛnhɑːˈmɒnɪk
/adjective Music
1Relating to or denoting notes which are the same in pitch (in modern tuning) though bearing different names (e.g. F sharp and G flat or B and C flat): double flats and double sharps are replaced by their enharmonic equivalents in harp music...
- Some 16th-century composers evidently favoured the enharmonic advantages of the system.
- You can see that his fondness for modulation by thirds and enharmonic shifts comes from French composers.
- Go around the first half of the circle until all seven letters of the alphabet have been used with sharps, or use the enharmonic relationship between F-sharp and G-flat major to make the transition into flat keys.
1.1Of or having intervals smaller than a semitone (e.g. between notes such as F sharp and G flat, in systems of tuning which distinguish them).The main purpose of the 1997 restoration was to replace the missing enharmonic tuning system, with its missing pipes and slider mechanism
Derivatives
enharmonically
- The repetition of the original words at the close of the first stanza returns to the original music, but modulates to E minor, the D s of which shift enharmonically to E (flat).
- Just as the pitches are enharmonically related, intervals that contain the same number of half-steps are referred to as enharmonically equivalent intervals.
- For example, the key of B, with five sharps, is enharmonically equivalent to the key of Có, with 7 flats.
Origin
Early 17th century (designating ancient Greek music based on a tetrachord divided into two quarter-tones and a major third): via late Latin from Greek enarmonikos, from en- 'in' + harmonia 'harmony'.