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Music vocabulary · Notation and Reading Music

Flat

Meaning in music, with examples

/flæt/nounCore term

In music, flat means: The symbol ♭ that lowers a note by a semitone, or a note lowered in this way. As an adjective, it also describes a note sung or played slightly too low.

In Turkish: bemol

How it is used

Said after the letter: 'B flat', 'E flat major'. Brass and wind players often play in flat keys. In rehearsal, 'You're going flat' means the pitch is dropping, which often happens when singers get tired.

Example sentences

  1. The jazz standard is in B flat, which suits the saxophone and trumpet.

  2. The choir went slightly flat towards the end of the long a cappella section.

Common collocations

  • B flat
  • two flats
  • go flat
  • slightly flat
  • flat key
  • sharpThe symbol ♯ that raises a note by a semitone, or a note raised in this way. As an adjective, it also describes a note sung or played slightly too high.
  • key signatureThe group of sharps or flats written at the start of every staff, just after the clef, that shows the key of the piece and which notes are always raised or lowered.
  • noteA single musical sound with a particular pitch and length, or the written symbol that shows it. In English, notes are named with the letters A to G.
  • out of tuneNot at the correct pitch, either because an instrument needs tuning or because a singer or player is slightly too high or too low.
  • pitchHow high or low a sound is. Pitch depends on the frequency of the sound wave: the faster the vibration, the higher the pitch.

More terms: Notation and Reading Music

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