Enharmonic Notes and Scales
When two notes, such as F sharp and G flat, sound alike even though they have
different letter names and are written in different positions on the musical staff,
we call say they are Enharmonic Notes.
In the second example we have three enharmonic notes: C flat, B natural, and
A double sharp all sound the same - at least when we play them on the piano.
Would a virtuoso violinist play them exactly the same? That's another very
interesting discussion which we won't go into right here.
We can also have whole
Enharmonic Scales.
Here are the scales of F sharp Major and G flat Major:
Look at the corresponding pairs of notes in the two scales all the way up.
Isn't every pair enharmonic? Therefore
the scales are enharmonic as well. If you think about how you play these two scales
on the piano (or on the flute, the trumpet, the clarinet, &c.) you realize that you'll
think all different note names, but your fingers will do all the same things
- because the scales are enharmonic!