IWBNI it were possible to specify that the rules for accidentals that are listed on page 56 of Music Notation in the Twentieth Century by Kurt Stone could be applied automatically.

The rules are as follows:

1. Accidentals are "local" in that they affect only those notes which they immediately precede with the following exceptions:

• Accidentals are not repeated on tied notes unless the tie occurs at a system or page break.
• Accidentals are not repeated for repeated notes unless other pitches intervene. Consequently, a natural must be used if a sharp or flat pitch is immediately followed by its natural form.

The following figure shows three versions of the passage used in the example given on page 56 of Music Notation in the Twentieth Century:

The first staff follows the traditional conventions for accidentals. One may follow these conventions by using the Cautionary Accidentals plug-in with the settings: Courtesy Naturals, Reset After 2 Measures and Never on Tied Notes.

The third staff shows the same passage written using non-repeated local accidentals. As it is now, one may obtain this result by using the Cautionary Accidentals plug-in with the settings: Courtesy Accidental, Reset After 2 Measures and Never on Tied Notes. Then the speedy entry tool may be used to selectively hide unwanted accidentals and create some courtesy accidentals and naturals. The second staff shows the intermediate result that is obtained from the Cautionary Accidentals plug-in prior to using the speedy entry tool.

The following options could be added to the Cautionary Accidental Options dialog box to allow one to use this plug-in to generate non-repeated local accidentals automatically:

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[ ] Hide sharp or flat on repeated notes.
[ ] Hide natural unless immediately preceded by sharp or flat.
[ ] Show natural as courtesy natural if preceded by 2 or more repeated altered notes within 1 intervening note.
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The numbers 2 and 1 in the last checkbox option could be user-definable.

Created: January 5, 2000 (based on a submission from Barbara Touburg)
Last Updated: January 5, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b