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Difficult when you are not an expert in music theory to understand what a flat is and especially to imagine its usefulness in a musical score.
Let's go back to the origins:
flat
is the adaptation of the medieval Latin "b molle", from
mollis
, "soft", which indicates that the note must be lowered by a semitone as opposed to "b quadratum", natural, which means to restore the note to its natural pitch.
As for sharp, from the Latin
diesis
, it indicates that the note must be raised by a semitone.
To soften his tone or habits
By extension, the phrase "
put a flat
" suggests that you need to soften your tone or your habits and "
there is a flat
" clearly indicates that there is a difficulty and takes up the idea of alteration contained in the musical term.
We even find in 1752 the denomination to flatten: “To mark with one or more flats” that is to say “to soften”.
Clément Marot already suggests in 1530 in the Dialogue of two lovers:
“After the race you have to pull the helm;
after flat you must sing in natural.
“
Understand who can…
Read alsoDo you speak 21st century Latin?
Closer to home, in 1900, Colette
Claudine's sulphurous novel at school
describes to us, among other suitors, her music teacher, Antonin Rabastens, who gives her a hard time with a
"rather simple exercise, but which sixteenth notes with seven flats in the key seemed to him black and formidable”.
Excerpt from
Give Us Our Daily Latin
.
Find the entire book on our Figaro Store.
