A musical term. The
simultaneous or
adjacent occurrence of a
note in its
natural and
chromatically inflected (
sharp or
flat, etc) form in different musical parts (or
voices). Mostly found in
renaissance and
early Baroque music. The two notes in question do not necessarily have to be in the same
octave, as demonstrated by the frequent occurrence of false relations between different vocal parts (i.e
tenor and
soprano).
Simply put, it's when you have both the sharp and the natural of a note present in different voices at the same time, or very close to each other.
An example of a false relation can be seen in the first section of Sweelinck's "Pavana Lachrimae". A more modern example is that of "Eight Days A Week" by the Beatles, whose harmony is based on false relations between G and G sharp. (This shows itself by way of an audible dissonace.)