Double sharp notation - why should i use it?
From wiki:
Double sharp Raises the pitch of a note by two chromatic semitones. Usually used when the note to modify is already sharpened by the key signature
If I write a D note in a D Major key and I want to use a double sharp, why not write an E note instead?
I am confused about why to use double sharps at all.
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We're in the key of, say, B major, and we need a B augmented chord. That means the 5th of B needs sharpening. Thus, F# now becomes Fx (F##). Yes, on a lot of (12edo) instruments, it's the same note, same place as G. But note (sic) that there's no G nat. diatonically in key B, and that's not the note that gets changed anyway - it's F#. In any case, writing Gnat. would still incur an extra accidental, so why not do it correctly?
You quote writing an E note in the key of D, instead of Dx. In D, it would be very rare to need to double sharp a D note. Generally, a double sharp is used when an already sharpened note needs to go up a semitone - and still retain its original letter name - so it would make sense when talking about the interval it makes with preceding and succeeding notes.
Another reason: simplicity of notation. Say you have a piece in Bb, and somewhere along the way there's an E-natural followed with an E-flat. Rather than write "naturalsign-E ; flat-sign-E", it's much easier for the performer to read "double-sharp-D; E (defaulting to Eb due to key signature)".
ETA
Thanks to Milo (apparently back from the Tollbooth) for a better example -- playing in G# minor to see Fx moving to G#
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