SCORE: 10.3.3 Courtesy Accidentals???

From the update notes; "Brackets for Guide Accidentals in the Score are again visible as expected."

I don't see them. Here is a screen shot...Note key signature, "courtesy accidental" inputted but no brackets... space, but no brackets.

Yes. This is not the first time we see release notes being misleading.

Guide Accidentals in Logic 10.3.2 [bUG] - Logic Pro Help

@Dan Rad - agreed this is indeed a pity. And while we are on the subject it would be great if the notes in a bar 'intelligently' responded to the chord symbol place above eg

You have a Score in key of Db but there is a bar with Em - A7 = you want the flats in that bar to change to sharps to reflect the temporary key, whereas at the moment you have to go round and change each note individually.

And also it would be a boon for transposing an entire arrangement - eg transpose the Db part to a different key especially a sharp key -and you are stuck correcting note by note all the wrong accidentals.

It cant be too difficult for there to be a command " correct sharps and flats to conform with chord symbol" - or - " conform to key"

Tangential question....(if someone is interested)

Look at beat 3 ( where there is an E bass ...) and the next measure - the D dim chord..

What is the academic theorists rule on when you should use enharmonic equivalents based on "readability."

Are the following notated correctly or should the Ab's be G#'s - in both cases for me it would read easier to read but what is the correct way?

another thought - would you ever have a sharp'd 2nd or for a minor chord ( I don't think so, but maybe I am wrong) - when is a flatted 6th an augmented 5th. In the key of C - a C dim7 is C,Eb,F#,A or is it C, Eb, Gb, A ...what if I was in the key of F#...( so I digress)

the folowing Correct or not ?

Your use of flats is what I would call musically consistent with the key and the chords ... except the E chord which to my ears is not clear what your musical intention is. Because you have a chord symbol plain E - but the notes are effectively an EMaj7 chord ( which if you meant that would be E G# B D# - but then the F natural doesnt relate to that.

The sequence and melody reminded me of Miles Davis 'Mademoiselle Mabry' below - I trust I am not breaking Copyright as this is an excerpt for educational purposes

Miles writes a plain E triad and spells it with G# .. but your chord Greg is more sophisticated than that and needs musical clarification from you the composer

That is not the chord symbol merely the name of the bass note below it.....

and thank you for your thoughts on this....

No prob.. I am very interested in the issue of readability and convention which is not something I fully understand all the time. Though I would say again thinking about your example above:

- convention has it that a note alphabetically listed ( ie F Eb E ) would immediately be interpreted as a chord symbol ( hence my incorrect assumption).

- that the overall key ( in your example Bb) would determine that most accidentals are Flat unless there is a completely obvious chord that does not conform to the key signature ( ie like in the Miles example of the E)

- that from a single note melodic point of view that sharps and flats follow the tweaking of a stringed instrument, so that if the melody rises chromatically you would use # signs and if it descends you would use flat signs

It would be great if one of our really crack LPH arranger/score/composers could give a definitive example of these conventions

@Jay Asher @ Ski @Flowerpower.. ?

I struggle with this in part because there is no "definitive" answer.. but possibly "better" answers based on the following. (I do a lot of Jazz arranging so there is always some struggle with choosing the right accidental)

I think (as in Greg's ex.) that if it is clearly a chord based on an E.. (which I think the bass note implies) then I would go with a G# in polyphonic parts like piano, harp or guitar. Also, if a line spells out an obvious triad, then I think making that more easily visible can be helpful for sight reading.

Also, the musical context is important. For classical pieces, I'm more likely to adhere to the key and basic "up with Sharps, down with flats" rule. For Jazz and other "contemporary" forms, I look for scales or chords that the player might be familiar with and/or have practiced (blues scales, pentatonic scales, harmonic minor scales etc) that will help them recognize.. for instance, a passage with a Bb and an F# might be recognized as G harmonic minor...Another guideline might be making intervals look correct. A b3rd as opposed to a raised 2nd (of which there is no such thing) For melodic instruments, you see the jump as opposed to a step. For polyphonic instruments, you see the shape of the chord better.

Just some view points

excellent excellent points gentlemen- thanks to both of you. Dan I have struggled on this subject from time to time and used all your suggestions at one time or another - answer seems to be more subjective than objective -

Ok one more.... key of this is Bb - Look at the middle note in each triplet.....thoughts... and on the second one...

If I used a C# - my interval spacing would easier to read and the accidental on the D would be eliminated....