Letter_notation

Letter notation
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
C major scale letter notation. The
speech or in written text in English or German. In Germany, Scandinavia, print letters, above the staff, are not
and parts of Central and Eastern Europe, H is used instead of B, and B is normally included.
used instead of B♭. In traditional Irish music, where almost all tunes are
restricted to two octaves, notes in the lower octave are written in lower
case while those in the upper octave are written in upper case.
If we consider the chromatic scale, new sounds are obtained by lowering or raising the seven 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
first second third fourth fifth sixth seventh
note
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
C D F G A
Sharp
sharp sharp sharp sharp 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.
History
The earliest known letter notation in the Western musical tradition appear in the textbook on music De
institutione musica by the 6th-century philosopher Boethius. A modified form is next found in the Dialogus de
musica (ca. 1000) by Pseudo-Odo, in a discussion of the division of the monochord.[1]
Guitar chords
Letter notation is the most common way of indicating chords for accompaniment, such as guitar chords, for
example B♭7. The bass note may be specified after a /, for example C/G is a C major chord with a G bass.
Where a capo is indicated, there is little standardisation. For example, after capo 3, most music sheets will write
A to indicate a C chord, that is, they give the chord shape rather than its pitch, but some specify it as C, others
give two lines, either the C on top and the A on the bottom or vice versa. A few even use the /, writing C/A or
A/C, but this notation is more commonly used for specifying a bass note and will confuse most guitarists.
Choice of note names

In the context of a piece of music, notes must be named for their diatonic functionality. For example, in the key
of D major, it is not generally correct to specify G♭ as a melodic note, although its pitch may be the same as F♯,
as F ♯ is diatonic to D major, while G ♭ is not.[2] (In many tuning systems other than twelve tone equal
temperament, the pitch of G♭ is not the same as that of F♯). This is normally only an issue in describing the
notes corresponding to the black keys of the piano; there is little temptation to write C as B♯ although both may
be valid names of the same note. Each is correct in its context.
Note names are also used for specifying the natural scale of a transposing instrument such as a clarinet, trumpet,
or saxophone. The note names used are conventional, for example a clarinet is said to be in B♭, E♭, or A (the
three most common registers), never in A♯, and D♯, and B (double-flat), while an alto flute is in G.[2]
Octaves
Note names can also be qualified to indicate the octave in which they are sounded. There are several schemes
for this, the most common being scientific pitch notation.
Scientific pitch notation is often used to specify the range of an instrument. Where sharps or flats are necessary
for this, these are related to the natural scale of the instrument if it has one, otherwise the choice is arbitrary.
Other note naming schemes

In many languages (such as those in the Romance and Slavic families), notes are named by
solmization syllables (do, re, mi,...) instead of letters.
Tonic sol-fa is a type of notation using the initial letters of solfege.
Alpha is a chromatic extension of the letter notation proposed by the French musician Raphaël
André.[3]
See also
Antiphonary of St. Benigne, letter notation by William of Volpiano
Abc notation, a letter notation based file format for computer storage of music
Helmholtz pitch notation
Keyboard tablature
Musical notation
Solfege
Swara
References
1. See "Medieval letter notations: a survey of the sources" by Alma Colk Browne (Ph. D. thesis.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1979) and "Medieval Canonics" by Jan Herlinger, in
The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory, Thomas Christensen, ed., 2002. Cambridge
University Press, ISBN 0-521-62371-5
2. Kostka, Stefan M.; Payne, Dorothy (2004). Tonal harmony, with an introduction to twentieth-
century music (5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-285260-8.
3. "AlphabetChromatique" (http://souslepont.org/alphabetChromatique/). souslepont.org (in French).
2022-05-18. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
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Letter notation

In music, letter notation is a system of representing a set of pitches, for

Flat re♭ mi♭ sol♭ la♭ si♭

Flat D flat E flat G flat A flat B flat

Flat Des Es Ges As B

Choice of note names

Other note naming schemes

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