As it relates to music it refers to raising the pitch by a semitone, or more generally that some tone is above the proper pitch. When a singer goes ‘sharp,’ for example, it generally means he or she is singing slightly above the proper pitch, but not far enough above as to land on another note that makes musical sense in the context of the music being performed. But in musical notation a sharp – which is denoted by the # symbol – signifies to a player that the note is to be played one semitone higher than normal. Certain key signatures are made by establishing certain notes that may be played one semitone sharp or flat (unless otherwise noted) throughout the piece of music, or until another key signature is defined.

Today marks the addition of the 1100th word to our WFTD archives. Feel free to peruse them to find out the meaning of the latest techno-babble words you come across in your daily endeavors. Also, feel free to let us know if there are any particular words you’d like to see defined.