Thank you it was helpful, at least for meTwo points: 1) A# as a key, if you have to tell anyone else 'what key', is unwieldy AF. "A# major" is A# B# Cx D# E# Fx Gx. What's the key signature supposed to be now? We've exceeded 7 sharps to wind up with three double sharps. Who wants to deal with this?
(if no one has to be the wiser, the distinction from our given alternative Bb is an acoustic one, and regardless of what's notated if you tell a Bb saxophonist 'key of A#' s/he should tell you to f**k right off, as you don't know what you're doing.)
2) The note A# is the seventh diatonic step of B major, among other things in 'sharp keys'. It's the fifth of seven sharps in a sig. In those areas "Bb" is probably a mistake.
So it depends what we're talking about. A real key of A# is going to be exceedingly rare-to-nonexistent. There is no acoustical reason for it such as the preference for keys a transposing instrument presents. There aren't sharp key instruments like that. One could conceivably have gone past the edge in their thought, in our 'sharp keys areas' for some reason but I'm pressed to come up with a reason not to go enharmonic if we're looking at multiple double sharps.
However, and note well, improvising in a 12-tone or full chromatic environment this whole issue might not matter (until you transcribe it).
Statistics: Posted by OscarSlater — Wed Nov 20, 2024 8:08 pm