Musical nomenclature with letters to indicate pitch
C major scale letter notation. The print letters, above the staff, are not normally included. Playⓘ
In music, letter notation is a system of representing a set of pitches, for example, the notes of a scale, by letters. For the complete Western diatonic scale, for example, these would be the letters A-G, possibly with a trailing symbol to indicate a half-step raise (sharp, ♯) or a half-step lowering (flat, ♭). This is the most common way of specifying a note in speech or in written text in English or German. In Germany, Scandinavia, and parts of Central and Eastern Europe, H is used instead of B, and B is used instead of B♭. In traditional Irish music, where almost all tunes are restricted to two octaves, for notes in the lower octave to written in lower case while those in the upper octave to be written in upper case.
If we consider the chromatic scale, new sounds are obtained by lowering or raising the 7 diatonic notes by a semitone by means of flats (♭) and sharps (♯). Use of solfege or letter names depends on language. For a more complete table and explanation, see Musical note.
Diatonic scale note
first
second
third
fourth
fifth
sixth
seventh
Solfege/Italian
do
re
mi
fa
sol
la
si
Variations
ut
-
-
-
so
-
ti
Sharp
do♯
re♯
fa♯
sol♯
la♯
Flat
re♭
mi♭
sol♭
la♭
si♭
English
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
Sharp
C sharp
D sharp
F sharp
G sharp
A sharp
Flat
D flat
E flat
G flat
A flat
B flat
German
C
D
E
F
G
A
H
Sharp
Cis
Dis
Fis
Gis
Ais
Flat
Des
Es
Ges
As
B
Western letter pitch notation has the virtue of identifying discrete pitches, but among its disadvantages are its occasional inability to represent pitches or inflections lying outside those theoretically derived, or (leaving aside chordal and tablature notations) representing the relationship between pitches—e.g., it does not indicate the difference between a whole step and a half step, knowledge of which was so critical to Medieval and Renaissance performers and theorists.
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