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It seems to me as if you could only have an A or an A#, but not both together as they both share the same spot and are only distinguished by the # symbol. Now you could of course write the A# as a Bb, but then what if you want A, A# and B to be played together or a complete octave? Is there maybe a special symbol that could be used in place of the # to signal that you're supposed to play the sharp and the non-sharp at the same time?

Forivin
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  • I'll let someone better at scoring than me provide a technical answer, but to save a complete mess you could use G [double sharp] A♯, B. – Tetsujin Sep 29 '19 at 13:57
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    This question is similar to the one asked a few days ago in https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/90129/notation-clarity-question-for-a-conglomerate-of-accidentals and I suggest you look at the answers there to same my copying them out! – Peter Sep 29 '19 at 14:09
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    See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_cluster – Your Uncle Bob Sep 29 '19 at 14:20
  • @Peter - can't see any notes such as OP is asking about in that question.All have separate note names, thus places. – Tim Sep 29 '19 at 15:14
  • Right now, can't think of a reason why two notes, a semitone apart, need to have the same letter name, thus same place on stave. – Tim Sep 29 '19 at 15:16
  • @Tim The OP has got two different note names: A and A#. They don't need the same letter name, as the OP pointed out. But if, for example, the composer wants to write, in C major, a B flat and B natural to give a bluesy sound, it's better written that way than A# and B, as it emphasises the fact that both notes are leading notes to C. A# looks to the performer like a modulation. And if the composer wants three adjacent semitones, as the OP mentioned, in most cases two of them will have to be on the same line/space on the staff. – Peter Sep 29 '19 at 17:48
  • @YourUncleBob For two adjacent semitones, the word "cluster" is a bit of overkill! – Peter Sep 29 '19 at 17:49
  • @Peter - tere is actually only one leading note to C - that's B. A# doesn't come close, and Bb isn't right. My point is what OP is aiming at, where A and A# both need writing down. I'm saying it's rare that both the same letter name notes (both A in some shape or form) would be necessary. – Tim Sep 29 '19 at 18:11
  • @Peter The question title mentions "all notes played together". – Your Uncle Bob Sep 29 '19 at 18:22
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    Possible duplicate of Notation clarity question for a conglomerate of accidentals – Carl Witthoft Sep 30 '19 at 12:23
  • Oddly enough, someone recently published, on aggro-gator.com of all places, a printed piano piece with a huge black square notated "sit with both buttocks on the keyboard" – Carl Witthoft Sep 30 '19 at 12:24
  • @CarlWitthoft - plenty of bum notes in that, then... – Tim Sep 30 '19 at 16:03
  • @YourUncleBob Yes, but then the OP goes on to mention just 2 notes. Maybe the OP could clarify just what they want and edit the title/text accordingly. – Peter Oct 01 '19 at 08:06

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The three notes you mentioned (A/A#/B) could be written A/Bb/Cb. And, yes, music for piano that is harmonically adventurous has chords like that in it all the time. Every note can be written several ways.

C = B#, Dbb C# = Db, B## D = C##, Ebb etc.

When writing music that is not strictly tonal, the rules about how to show tonality are irrelevant. Use the spelling that is going to most clearly communicate the pitch that is to be played.

Heather S.
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  • I don't see how this is an exception to anything I said. Perhaps most pitches can have three or more spellings, but that is just a disagreement on the meaning of "several", not a contradiction of my point. – Heather S. Oct 02 '19 at 18:35
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I’m not sure what instrument could possibly do this, perhaps a piano with five or more people sitting at it, but I would just put a rhythm slash with a note saying “play all the notes available over the range of the instrument.”

If you just want a very dense tone cluster, then two separate chord shapes with the appropriate accidental next to each other written as two voices might do it.

Perhaps a clearer way would be to put a vertical bar between the lowest and highest notes of the group with a guide at the beginning of the piece that indicates what that custom notation means, like Penderecki.

Todd Wilcox
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  • OP is asking how an A note and an A# note could be written so they are played simultaneously, but not written as A and Bb. Not certain this answers that point. – Tim Sep 30 '19 at 16:08
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    @Tim Quoting the question: "but then what if you want A, A# and B to be played together or a complete octave?" I think the thrust of the question is, which dots do you use to put A, A#, B, C, C#, and D all at the same time? Do you put A, Bb, Cb, Dbb, and Ebb and then what for C#/Db? So maybe Gx, A#, B, C, Db, Ebb? At some point you'll need triple flats or triple sharps or something, and it's going to break down, so what do you do when there aren't enough dots for the notes? – Todd Wilcox Sep 30 '19 at 17:08
  • @Tim My point being, if the number of notes to be played outnumber the available lines and spaces, something has to give. It can't be notated in the traditional way. So I made some non-traditional suggestions. But because it can't be done the usual way, there is no single objective answer to the question. – Todd Wilcox Sep 30 '19 at 17:09