Accidental (music) felt it was obvious that the accidental should continue. The older practice continued in use well into the 18th century by many composers, notably Johann Sebastian Bach. The newer convention did not achieve general currency until early in the 19th century. Accidental (music) In music, an accidental is a note of a pitch (or pitch class) that is not a member of the scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the sharp (), flat (), and natural () symbols, among others, mark such notes—and those symbols are also called accidentals. In the measure
Time signature note), in contradiction to the literal meaning of the phrase, it still indicates that the beat has changed to a longer note value. Time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value is equivalent to a beat. In a music score, the time signature appears at the beginning as a time symbol or stacked numerals, such as or (read "common time" and "three-four time", respectively), immediately following the key