From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the musical term.

For other uses, see Note (disambiguation ). In music, the term note has two primary meanings: A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound; A pitched sound itself. Notes are the "atoms" of much Western music: discretizations of musical phenomen a that facilitate performance, comprehension, and analysis.[1] The term note can be used in both generic and specific senses: one might say eit her "the piece 'Happy Birthday to You' begins with two notes having the same pit ch," or "the piece begins with two repetitions of the same note." In the former case, one uses note to refer to a specific musical event; in the latter, one use s the term to refer to a class of events sharing the same pitch. The note A or La Contents 1 Note name 1.1 Accidentals 1.2 12-tone chromatic scale 1.3 Note designation in accordance with octave name 2 Written notes 3 Note frequency (hertz) 4 History of note names 5 See also 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External links Note name See also: Key signature names and translations Names of some notes without accidentals Two notes with fundamental frequencies in a ratio equal to any power of two (e.g . half, twice, or four times) are perceived as very similar. Because of that, al l notes with these kinds of relations can be grouped under the same pitch class. In traditional music theory within the English-speaking and Dutch-speaking world , pitch classes are typically represented by the first seven letters of the Lati n alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, F and G). A few European countries, including Germany , adopt an almost identical notation, in which H is substituted for B (see below for details). However, most other countries in the world use the naming convent ion Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Si, including for instance Italy, Spain, France, Romania, most Latin American countries, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia, and all the Ar abic-speaking or Persian-speaking countries . The eighth note, or octave, is given the same name as the first, but has double its frequency. The name octave is also used to indicate the span between a note and another with double frequency. To differentiate two notes that have the same pitch class but fall into different octaves, the system of scientific pitch not ation combines a letter name with an Arabic numeral designating a specific octav e. For example, the now-standard tuning pitch for most Western music, 440 Hz, is named a' or A4.

There are two formal systems to define each note and octave, the Helmholtz pitch notation and the Scientific pitch notation. Accidentals Letter names are modified by the accidentals. A sharp ? raises a note by a semit one or half-step, and a flat ? lowers it by the same amount. In modern tuning a half step has a frequency ratio of \sqrt[12]{2}, approximately 1.059. The accide ntals are written after the note name: so, for example, F? represents F-sharp, B ? is B-flat. Frequency vs Position on Treble Clef. Each note shown has a frequency of the pre vious note multiplied by \sqrt[12]{2} Additional accidentals are the double-sharp double sharp, raising the frequency by two semitones, and double-flat double flat, lowering it by that amount. In musical notation, accidentals are placed before the note symbols. Systematic alterations to the seven lettered pitches in the scale can be indicated by placi ng the symbols in the key signature, which then apply implicitly to all occurren ces of corresponding notes. Explicitly noted accidentals can be used to override this effect for the remainder of a bar. A special accidental, the natural symbo l ?, is used to indicate an unmodified pitch. Effects of key signature and local accidentals do not cumulate. If the key signature indicates G-sharp, a local fl at before a G makes it G-flat (not G natural), though often this type of rare ac cidental is expressed as a natural, followed by a flat (??) to make this clear. Likewise (and more commonly), a double sharp double sharp sign on a key signatur e with a single sharp ? indicates only a double sharp, not a triple sharp. Assuming enharmonicity, many accidentals will create equivalences between pitche s that are written differently. For instance, raising the note B to B? is equal to the note C. Assuming all such equivalences, the complete chromatic scale adds five additional pitch classes to the original seven lettered notes for a total of 12 (the 13th note completing the octave), each separated by a half-step. Notes that belong to the diatonic scale relevant in the context are sometimes ca lled diatonic notes; notes that do not meet that criterion are then sometimes ca lled chromatic notes. Another style of notation, rarely used in English, uses the suffix "is" to indic ate a sharp and "es" (only "s" after A and E) for a flat, e.g. Fis for F?, Ges f or G?, Es for E?. This system first arose in Germany and is used in almost all E uropean countries whose main language is not English, Greek, or a Romance langua ge. In most countries using these suffixes, the letter H is used to represent what i s B natural in English, the letter B is used instead of B?, and Heses (i.e., Hdo uble flat) is used instead of Bdouble flat (not Bes, which would also have fit i nto the system). Dutch-speakers in Belgium and the Netherlands use the same suff ixes, but applied throughout to the notes A to G, so that B, B? and Bdouble flat have the same meaning as in English, although they are called B, Bes, and Beses instead of B, B flat and B double flat. Denmark also uses H, but uses Bes inste ad of Heses for Bdouble flat. 12-tone chromatic scale The following chart lists the names used in different countries for the 12 notes of a chromatic scale built on C. The corresponding symbols are shown within par enthesis. Differences between German and English notation are highlighted in bol d typeface. Although the English and Dutch names are different, the correspondin g symbols are identical. Naming convention 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 English C C sharp (C?) D D sharp (D?) E F F sharp (F?) G G sharp (G?) A A sharp (A?) B D flat (D?) E flat (E?) G flat (G?) A flat (A?) B flat (B?) German[2] (used in DE, CZ, SK, PL, HU, NO, FI, EE) C Cis (C?) D Dis (D?) E F Fis (F?) G Gis (G?) A Ais (A ?) H Des (D?) Es (E?) Ges (G?) As (A ?) B Dutch[2] (used in NL, and sometimes in Scandinavia after 1990s) C (C?) D Dis (D?) E F Fis (F?) G Gis (G?) A Ais (A ?) B Des (D?) Es (E?) Ges (G?) As (A ?) Bes (B?) Neo-Latin[3] (used in FR, IT, ES, Latin America, and many other countries) s (Do?) Re Re diesis (Re?) Mi Fa Fa diesis (Fa?) Sol Sol diesis (Sol?) La La diesis (La?) Si Re bemolle (Re?) Mi bemolle (Mi?) Sol bemolle (Sol?) La bemolle (La?) Si bemolle (Si?) Byzantine[4] Ni Ni diesis Pa Pa diesis Ga diesis Di Di diesis Ke Ke diesis Pa hyphesis Vu hyphesis Di hyphesis Ke hyphesis Japanese[5] Ha (?) Ei-ha (??) Ni (?) Ei-ni (??) Ho (?) He (?) Ei-he (??) To (?) Ei-to (??) I (?) Ei-i

Cis

Do

Do diesi

Vu Ga Zo Zo hyphesis

(??) Ro (?) Hen-ni (??) Hen-ho (??) Hen-to (??) Hen-i (??) Hen-ro (??) Indian (Hindusthani) Sa Ma Ma Teevra Pa Indian (Carnatic) Sa Antara Ga Shuddha Ma ti Dha Kaisika Ni Kakali Note designation in accordance

Re Komal Dha Komal Shuddha Ri Prati Ma Ni with octave name

Re Ga Komal Ga Dha Ni Komal Ni Chatusruti Ri Shatsruti Ri Pa Shuddha Dha Chatusru

The table of each octave and the frequencies for every note of pitch class A is shown below. The traditional (Helmholtz) system centers on the great octave (wit h capital letters) and small octave (with lower case letters). Lower octaves are named "contra" (with primes before), higher ones "lined" (with primes after). A nother system (scientific) suffixes a number (starting with 0, or sometimes -1). In this system A4 is nowadays standardised to 440 Hz, lying in the octave conta ining notes from C4 (middle C) to B4. The lowest note on most pianos is A0, the highest C8. The MIDI system for electronic musical instruments and computers use s a straight count starting with note 0 for C-1 at 8.1758 Hz up to note 127 for G9 at 12,544 Hz. Octave naming systems frequency of A (Hz) traditional shorthand numbered MIDI nr B??? C-1 B-1 0 11 13.75 subsubcontra C??? sub-contra C?? B?? C0 B0 12 23 27.5 contra C? B? C1 B1 24 35 55 great C B C2 B2 36 47 110 small c b C3 B3 48 59 220 one-lined c' b' C4 B4 60 71 440 two-lined c'' b'' C5 B5 72 83 880 three-lined c''' b''' C6 B6 84 95 1760 four-lined c'''' b'''' C7 B7 96 107 3520 five-lined c''''' b''''' C8 B8 108 119 7040 six-lined c'''''' b'''''' C9 B9 120 127 up to G9 14080 Written notes A written note can also have a note value, a code that determines the note's rel ative duration. In order of halving duration, we have: double note (breve); whol e note (semibreve); half note (minim); quarter note (crotchet); eighth note (qua ver); sixteenth note (semiquaver). Smaller still are the thirty-second note (dem isemiquaver), sixty-fourth note (hemidemisemiquaver), and hundred twenty-eighth note (semihemidemisemiquaver). When notes are written out in a score, each note is assigned a specific vertical position on a staff position (a line or a space) on the staff, as determined by the clef. Each line or space is assigned a note name. These names are memorized by musicians and allow them to know at a glance the proper pitch to play on the ir instruments for each note-head marked on the page. X:1 M:none L:1/4 K:C C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 B4 c4 B4 A4 G4 F4 E4 D4 C4 The staff above shows the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C About this sound listen ( helpinfo) and then in reverse order, with no key signature or accidentals. Note frequency (hertz) Main article: Mathematics of musical scales

In all technicality, music can be composed of notes at any arbitrary physical[cl arification needed] frequency. Since the physical causes of music are vibrations of mechanical systems, they are often measured in hertz (Hz), with 1 Hz = one v ibration per second. For historical and other reasons, especially in Western mus ic, only twelve notes of fixed frequencies are used. These fixed frequencies are mathematically related to each other, and are defined around the central note, A4. The current "standard pitch" or modern "concert pitch" for this note is 440 Hz, although this varies in actual practice (see History of pitch standards). The note-naming convention specifies a letter, any accidentals, and an octave nu mber. Any note is an integer of half-steps away from middle A (A4). Let this dis tance be denoted n. If the note is above A4, then n is positive; if it is below A4, then n is negative. The frequency of the note (f) (assuming equal temperamen t) is then: f = 2^{n/12} \times 440 \,\text{Hz}\, For example, one can find the frequency of C5, the first C above A4. There are 3 half-steps between A4 and C5 (A4 ? A?4 ? B4 ? C5), and the note is above A4, so n = +3. The note's frequency is: f = 2^{3/12} \times 440 \,\text{Hz} \approx 523.2 \,\text{Hz} To find the frequency of a note below A4, the value of n is negative. For exampl e, the F below A4 is F4. There are 4 half-steps (A4 ? A?4 ? G4 ? G?4 ? F4), and the note is below A4, so n = -4. The note's frequency is: f = 2^{-4/12} \times 440 \,\text{Hz} \approx 349.2 \,\text{Hz} Finally, it can be seen from this formula that octaves automatically yield power s of two times the original frequency, since n is therefore a multiple of 12 (12 k, where k is the number of octaves up or down), and so the formula reduces to: f = 2^{12k/12} \times 440 \,\text{Hz} = 2^k \times 440 \,\text{Hz} yielding a factor of 2. In fact, this is the means by which this formula is deri ved, combined with the notion of equally-spaced intervals. The distance of an equally tempered semitone is divided into 100 cents. So 1200 cents are equal to one octave a frequency ratio of 2:1. This means that a cent i s precisely equal to the 1200th root of 2, which is approximately 1.000578. For use with the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) standard, a frequen cy mapping is defined by: p = 69 + 12 \times \log_2{f \over 440 \,\text{Hz}} Where p is the MIDI note number. And in the opposite direction, to obtain the fr equency from a MIDI note p, the formula is defined as: f=2^{(p-69)/12} \times 440\,\text{Hz} For notes in an A440 equal temperament, this formula delivers the standard MIDI note number (p). Any other frequencies fill the space between the whole numbers evenly. This allows MIDI instruments to be tuned very accurately in any microtun ing scale, including non-western traditional tunings. History of note names Music notation systems have used letters of the alphabet for centuries. The 6th century philosopher Boethius is known to have used the first fourteen letters of

the classical Latin alphabet, A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-K-L-M-N-O to signify the notes of the two-octave range that was in use at the time,[6] and which in modern scientific pitch notation is represented as A2-B2-C3-D3-E3-F3-G3-A3-B3-C4-D4-E4-F4-G4. Though it is not known whether this was his devising or common usage at the time , this is nonetheless called Boethian notation. Although Boethius is the first a uthor which is known to have used this nomenclature in the literature, the above mentioned two-octave range was already known five centuries before by Ptolemy, who called it the "perfect system" or "complete system", as opposed to other sys tems of notes of smaller range, which did not contain all the possible species o f octave (i.e., the seven octaves starting from A, B, C, D, E, F, and G). Following this, the range (or compass) of used notes was extended to three octav es, and the system of repeating letters A-G in each octave was introduced, these being written as lower case for the second octave (a-g) and double lowercase le tters for the third (aa-gg). When the range was extended down by one note, to a G, that note was denoted using the Greek G (G), gamma. (It is from this that the French word for scale, gamme is derived, and the English word gamut, from "Gamm a-Ut", the lowest note in Medieval music notation.) The remaining five notes of the chromatic scale (the black keys on a piano keybo ard) were added gradually; the first being B?, since B was flattened in certain modes to avoid the dissonant tritone interval. This change was not always shown in notation, but when written, B? (B-flat) was written as a Latin, round "b", an d B? (B-natural) a Gothic or "hard-edged" b. These evolved into the modern flat (?) and natural (?) symbols respectively. The sharp symbol arose from a barred b , called the "cancelled b". In parts of Europe, including Germany, the Czech Republic, SK, Poland, Hungary, Norway and Finland, the Gothic b transformed into the letter H (possibly for har t, German for hard, or just because the Gothic b resembled an H). Therefore, in German music notation, H is used in lieu of B? (B-natural), and B in lieu of B? (B-flat). Occasionally, music written in German for international use will use H for B-natural and Bb for B-flat (with a modern-script lowercase b instead of a flat sign). Since a Bes or B? in Northern Europe (i.e. a Bdouble flat elsewhere) is both rare and unorthodox (more likely to be expressed as Heses), it is gener ally clear what this notation means. In Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Romanian, Greek, Russian, Mongolian, Fl emish, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Bulgarian and Turkish notation the notes of scal es are given in terms of Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Si rather than C-D-E-F-G-A-B. These names follow the original names reputedly given by Guido d'Arezzo, who had taken them from the first syllables of the first six musical phrases of a Gregorian C hant melody Ut queant laxis, which began on the appropriate scale degrees. These became the basis of the solfege system. "Do" later replaced the original "Ut" f or ease of singing (most likely from the beginning of Dominus, Lord), though "Ut " is still used in some places. "Si" or "Ti" was added as the seventh degree (fr om Sancte Johannes, St. John, to whom the hymn is dedicated). The use of 'Si' ve rsus 'Ti' varies regionally. The two notation systems most commonly used nowadays are the Helmholtz pitch not ation system and the Scientific pitch notation system. As shown in the table abo ve, they both include several octaves, each starting from C rather than A. The r eason is that the most commonly used scale in Western music is the major scale, and the sequence C-D-E-F-G-A-B (the C-major scale) is the simplest example of a

major scale. Indeed, it is the only major scale which can be obtained using natu ral notes (the white keys on the piano keyboard), and typically the first musica l scale taught in music schools. In a newly developed system, primarily in use in the United States, notes of sca les become independent to the music notation. In this system the natural symbols C-D-E-F-G-A-B refer to the absolute notes, while the names Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti are relativized and show only the relationship between pitches, where Do is the name of the base pitch of the scale, Re is the name of the second pitch, etc. T he idea of so-called movable-do, originally suggested by John Curwen in the 19th century, was fully developed and involved into a whole educational system by Zo ltn Kodly in the middle of the 20th century, which system is known as the Kodly Met hod or Kodly Concept. See also Music and mathematics (mathematics of musical scales) Diatonic and chromatic Ghost note Grace note Interval (music) Money note Musical temperament Musical tone Note value Pensato Piano key frequencies Solfege Universal key References Jump up ^ ^ Jump up Jump up ^ Jump up ^ Jump up ^ Jump up ^ , 341. Bibliography Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1990). Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Mus ic (Musicologie gnrale et smiologue, 1987). Translated by Carolyn Abbate (1990). IS BN 0-691-02714-5. External links Look up note in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Converter: Frequencies to note name, +/- cents Note names, keyboard positions, frequencies and MIDI numbers Music notation systems - Frequencies of equal temperament tuning - The Engli sh and American system versus the German system Frequencies of musical notes [show] v t e Nattiez 1990, p.81n9 to: a b is = sharp; es or s = flat diesis = sharp; bemolle = flat diesis (or diez) = sharp; hyphesis = flat ? (Ei) = ? (sharp); ? (Hen) = ? (flat) Boethius. De institutione musica. Book IV, chap. 14. Ed. Friedlein

Musical notation [show] v t e Consonance and dissonance [hide] v t e Harmony Accompaniment Banjo roll Cadence Chord Chord progression Four-part Harmonic rhythm Harmonization List of chords List of chord progressions Note Pitch Sequence Simultaneity Voice leading Categories: Musical notation Navigation menu Create account Log in Article Talk Read Edit View history Main page Contents Featured content Current events Random article Donate to Wikipedia Wikimedia Shop Interaction Help About Wikipedia

Community portal Recent changes Contact page Tools Print/export Languages ??????? ????? Az?rbaycanca ?????????? ?????????? (???????????)? ????????? Bosanski Brezhoneg Catal Ce tina Dansk Deutsch Eesti ???????? Espaol Esperanto Euskara ????? Franais Frysk Galego ??? ??????? Hrvatski Ido slenska Italiano ????? Kurd Latina Lietuviu Magyar Nahuatl Nederlands ??? Norsk bokml Norsk nynorsk Occitan Polski Portugus Romna ??????? Sicilianu Simple English Slovencina Sloven cina ?????? / srpski Srpskohrvatski / ?????????????? Suomi ??? Trke ??????????

Ti?ng Vi?t ?? emaite ka ?? Edit links This page was last modified on 15 December 2013 at 00:20. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use a nd Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization.