In music, # denotes a sharp key or note and b denotes a flat key or note — this is Italian notation.
Traditionally in English, the # symbol was called the hash, because it looked like the end of a cooking implement used to hash vegetables (nowadays everyone would say mash instead).
In US typewriters, there was no £ symbol, so # was used to denote british pounds instead.
When the telephone button pad was created, there was room for two more symbols and tones, so the creators took the asterisk and hash from the typewriter and added them as extra signals.
When Twitter needed a way to denote a tagged word in a tweet, they decided to use the hash symbol.
I don’t know if this is a new development to differentiate or just a style thing.
But I think sharp in music is usually slanted up ♯.
Rather than horizontal #.
Yes, probably just style then. Thinking about the context it has to be angled one way or another in sheet music just for clarity against the lines of the staff.
It’d be interesting to know whether it was used first in sheet music, or otherwise.
I always read this as hash until I learn that the programming language C# is pronounced C sharp
Centuries of music has entered the chat
In music, # denotes a sharp key or note and b denotes a flat key or note — this is Italian notation.
Traditionally in English, the # symbol was called the hash, because it looked like the end of a cooking implement used to hash vegetables (nowadays everyone would say mash instead).
In US typewriters, there was no £ symbol, so # was used to denote british pounds instead.
When the telephone button pad was created, there was room for two more symbols and tones, so the creators took the asterisk and hash from the typewriter and added them as extra signals.
When Twitter needed a way to denote a tagged word in a tweet, they decided to use the hash symbol.
I don’t know if this is a new development to differentiate or just a style thing. But I think sharp in music is usually slanted up ♯. Rather than horizontal #.
C# in computers is just perverse.
It’s the same with flats being ♭ and not b. Mostly an engraving choice.
Yes, probably just style then. Thinking about the context it has to be angled one way or another in sheet music just for clarity against the lines of the staff.
It’d be interesting to know whether it was used first in sheet music, or otherwise.