Two new musical notes discovered during audition for National Youth Choir of Wales

The cannon of Western music may need to be reconsidered following the accidental discovery of two previously unknown musical notes.

During an audition for the National Youth Choir of Wales (NYCW), the accompanist (professional musician, April Day) found she couldn’t replicate one of the notes being sung by a young soprano.

“She sang this very pure note, and I instinctively reached to play it on the piano - but found there was a gap where the note should fall”, commented Day.

Day examined the piano more closely and noticed that most of the white notes on the piano have a black note in between them. However, she was shocked to realise that some of those white notes were completely missing any black note in between. She has since conducted a survey of other pianos throughout Wales, and found exactly the same mysterious omission exists elsewhere.

“I’m astonished that nobody has noticed this sooner”, she said.

Expert musicologists have been quick to comment, with Dr Dinah Mik of Llaregub University hailing the find as “the most significant leap forward since someone decided to put sharps and flats in the mix.” She said that the newly dubbed “B-and-a-half” delivers a haunting, almost mischievous hum, while “E-and-a-half” carries a bright, cheeky resonance - defying centuries of theory that insisted the gaps between B and C, and E and F, should be silent.

National Youth Arts Wales CEO Evan Dawson hailed the discovery, “National Youth Arts Wales has a long history of pushing the boundaries of creativity”, he said. “These new tones bridge the gap in ways we didn’t know we needed.”

A new piano has now been built to include the new notes (pictured above).

The National Youth Orchestra of Wales (NYOW) is currently searching for a pianist to play with the orchestra this summer, performing a wide range of works using the two new notes. You can register for an audition here. Deadline is 6 April 2025.