Accidentals do not apply to all voices in same clef?

Question

Until now, I thought that accidentals apply to all notes of the same octave and the same clef during a measure.

However, I'm currently learning the following piece and it seems to be different (4/4 measure signature):

There are two voices in the treble clef. Is the 4th note in the clef a B♭3 or an A3?
Based on the respective recording, I think it is a B♭3.

Is this the usual way of notation, or is it more common to apply accidentals to all voices?

If it is a B♭3:
The B♭3 from the beginning takes 3/4 of the measure, while the second B♭3 is at 4/8.
How is it meant to be played then? Hold the second B♭3 longer till 3/4 of the measure?

What's bH? If you mean the German note names, don't you mean B? — Dekkadeci, Feb 28 '21 at 20:34
Related question: Will an accidental in piano sheet count for second voice as well?. — Aaron, Feb 28 '21 at 20:36
@Dekkadeci In German notation 'B' is called 'H', while '♭B' is called 'B' - it's confusing — Arsak, Feb 28 '21 at 23:52
@Arsak but there is no note in German nomenclature, nor in English, called ♭H. (Furthermore, when writing in English, at least, the accidental sign follows the note, so D♭, E♭, G♭, A♭, and B♭.) — phoog, Mar 01 '21 at 01:23
Sorry, that was my mistake. I've edited the original post. (-> H3♭) — 0vbb, Mar 01 '21 at 10:50
@0vbb That note is never called 'H♭'. In German it's 'B' and in English 'B♭'. — PiedPiper, Mar 01 '21 at 11:25

PiedPiper · Accepted Answer · 2021-02-28T20:24:48.920

All of the notes on the B-line in the first bar are B-flats. The second flat (on the fourth eighth note) is unnecessary in a piano piece. Accidentals are never additive: the note stays B-flat, no matter how many times the flat is repeated.

Your second question has been answered here: How does one maintain voice integrity when longer and shorter notes of the same pitch occur in two voices

Note: the second flat would be necessary if the stave was intended to be played by two players. Each player reads only their own line, and needs the all the accidentals.

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 28 '21 at 20:40

It's normal to specify an accidental even if it has been already noted, as they usually apply only to a voice, and it's really uncommon to have two voices in the same staff with the same note and different alterations; in the rare case case in which it happens (or, more commonly, just ambiguity), two separate notes could appear at the same time, with individual alterations.

In any case, that certainly is not A. Even assuming that another voice could "break" the current accidentals set for another, that is only valid for that voice, and temporary alterations cannot "add" relative accidentals to existing ones.

Accidentals do not apply to all voices in same clef?

2 Answers2