| In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Richard Robinson | >> | >> K:A_b^f^c | >> shouldn't that have a G# also since you've written K:A? | > | >It definitely shouldn't have a G#, since the Gs aren't sharp. | | So you are saying that | | K:A has 3 sharps | | K:A _b has no sharps and one flat instead? | | This is totally illogical. I can understand K:A _b to mean 3 sharps and | add a b flat but what now is the significance of the A?
It's quite logical. K:A has a tonic but no scale information, so we assume major (^f^c^g). K:Amix has a tonic and a mode; the signature is ^f^c. K:A_B has a tonic and a key signature, which is _B K:_B has no tonic, but a signature, which is _B. Maybe it's F or Dm. You assume a major scale if they don't give you any clues about the scale. Knowing the tonic is always nice, but standard staff notation shows that it isn't necessary. Experience with abc shows that musicians like to know the tonic anyway, and classical terminology often tells you the tonic and mode in the title, so we should encourage it. An example of an unnecessary tonic, from a klezmer context: K:^G could mean either K:D^G or K:E^G. There are other possibilities, but these are the two most likely. Of course, you can usually tell which it is by the end of the first bar, but it's nice to know up front. And it's especially nice if you're asking the computer to find you some tunes in E something. To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
