I’m going through a choral piece trying to get the accidentals right. For strings, I’m OK following the rules in Gould, but for choral pieces she says it’s vital to show notes with the correct degree of the scale.
I’ve tried to find proper guidance on the web for this but there is a load of material there that is contradictory and confusing.
I’ve applied the automatic spelling algorithm in Dorico, and for one passage I get this (key of the piece is Ab):
Any thoughts on this, or on a good source text I can use to understand this in depth?
I had a look at the one of the source algorithms that the Dorico logic is apparently based on but it is very complicated (and I spent some of my career writing algorithms!).
Based just on this, I’d be tempted to spell all four F#s as Gbs, and the Dbb as C.
2 Likes
Yes, I had a problem with the Dbb, I can’t see any particular reason why it would be better than a C in that context. Has the algorithm decided the local key is Cb?
The F# made a bit more sense as it means the phrase is diatonic, and that could help the singers.
Unless I’m missing more context, “dead” lands on a (0148)INV on D followed by a (0148) on Bb, all leading towards the striking m9 cadence. (Perfect demented? Imperfect demolished? 
)
To my way of thinking-hearing, these are all linear chords moving outside of tonality, so I think good linear spelling is the way I’d go.
I can’t actually speak to Dorico’s algorithm, I’m afraid.
1 Like
Happy to chime on, Richard! I’ll be curious to read how others would handle it.
Hi @RichardTownsend , here below is my suggestion. So you have (first Bar, third staff) the G that goes diatonically to F#, and after the breath it enharmonically changes to Gb (I see the passage after the breath as beginning in Eb minor key).
I am not choir expert, and I don’t know if such an enharmonically change is good for the singers, but being it the same “sound” should not be difficult…?):
1 Like
Thanks for going to so much trouble, Christian.
What you suggest makes perfect sense - like you, I don’t know if the switch to Gb would be problematic for singers.
One thing to consider is the readability per voice part, balanced against the vertical clarity of harmony: are the interval jumps easy to sightread for each line? In practical terms, this is often more helpful to singers on the ground than strict harmonic accuracy.
So, going from F# to Gb is perhaps best avoided if you can, because that visually looks like a change in pitch, but it isn’t. This might trip singers up. Going to a Gb in that second bar would be fine, in my opinion anyway; staying on a Gb in the 3rd bar on “doubling” even more so, to highlight the 3rd interval below the Bb.
Similarly, going from F# to Eb (especially without a reminder b accidental) could obscure the fact this is a minor 3rd, by making it look more like a 2nd.
On a completely tangential note, I’d recommend reducing the minimum gaps between lyrics, and especially between lyrics and hyphens. It will allow lyrics to sit a bit closer together if needed, and distort note spacing less.
1 Like
Thanks Lillie, that’s very helpful. Thanks too for the pointer on lyric spacing.
Based on your input, Christian’s and Judd’s, I’m going to go for C natural not Dbb, and Gb not F# for all those notes, even if there’s a loss of diatonicity (if that’s a word).
Thanks to you all.
I’m marking Lillie’s answer as the solution, but all the input has been very helpful.
2 Likes
If not officially so, it should be!
If “staying at the party too late” to amplify my point isn’t entire untoward, the very reason I invoked pc set-class labels above is the temporary “de-diatonic-ing” (okay, I know that’s not a word — nor should it be) that happens there. (And BTW, extrapolating from what I can see of the text there, that seems like a really great expressive use of harmony.) This is why I think that, in addition to the pragmatic arguments about readability, giving each line linearly coherent spellings helps clarify the musical meaning of those linear chords.
Hi Judd, yes, I completely agree.
