Accidental duration rules

Accidental duration rules determine how long accidentals apply, such as within a bar, at a different octave, or just for a single note. Dorico Pro allows you to use different accidental duration rules.

  • You can find the available accidental duration rules on the Accidentals page in Write > Notation Options.

Common practice

In common practice, an accidental affects all notes of the same pitch in the same octave within the same bar, unless it is cancelled by another accidental. If it is not cancelled, it is automatically cancelled in the following bar.

It is customary to show cautionary accidentals on subsequent notes in certain circumstances. For example, in the key of G major, an F in a bar following an F shows a cautionary sharp sign, even though the sharp is included in the key signature. Cautionary accidentals are also known as “courtesy accidentals”.

When using the common practice accidental duration rule, you can choose to hide, show, or parenthesize cautionary accidentals in different circumstances.

In Dorico Pro, common practice is the default accidental duration rule.

Second Viennese School

The Second Viennese School accidental duration rule states that each accidental only applies to a single note. All notes show an accidental regardless of key signature, including naturals.

This accidental duration rule was used by Schoenberg and other composers of the Second Viennese School.

You can customize the options within the Second Viennese School accidental duration rule when changing the accidental duration rule, including choosing whether immediate repetitions of the same note within the same bar require a restatement of the accidental.

Modernist

The Modernist accidental duration rule states that only notes that have been altered from the key signature show accidentals. Naturals are not shown. However, accidentals that are shown only apply to the notes on which they are written, as with the Second Viennese School.

Charles Ives and Robert Crumb used this variation.

You can customize the options within the Modernist accidental duration rule when changing the accidental duration rule, including choosing whether or not the same accidental on the same pitch is restated later in the bar if the subsequent pitches occur immediately and if subsequent pitches occur after other, different notes. Similarly, there are options for accidentals on notes in different octaves in the same bar and following bar. There is also an option controlling the restatement of accidentals within beam groups.