Note (music)

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In music, a note has two meanings:

  • A set pitch with a name
  • A representation of the pitch

Because of this ambiguity (meaning more than one thing at the same time), some sentences do not seem to make sense. For example, in the song "Happy Birthday to You", a person might say, "The first two notes of "Happy Birthday to You" are the same note." This means that the first two sounds of the song have the same pitch.

[edit] Note name

In the United States of America, notes are given a letter of the alphabet according to their pitch. From lowest sounding to highest sounding: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. This pattern repeats, so that after G will come A. This A is an octave higher than the first A.

Because there are 12 notes needed in Western music, these 7 notes can have modifiers (symbols or words that change them). The two main modifiers are sharps, which raise the pitch a half-step, and flats, which lower the pitch a half-step. The symbol for a sharp is ♯ (like the pound symbol: #). The symbol for a flat is ♭ (like a lower-case italic b). The symbols are written after the note name. For example, an B♭ represents B flat and F♯ represents F sharp. These symbols can also be written in the key signature. To un-flat or un-sharp a note, the natural symbol, ♮, is written before the note.

Two other modifiers are double sharps, which raise the note a whole step, and double flats, which lower the note a whole step. The symbol for a double sharp is × and the symbol for a double flat is ♭♭. For example, E♭♭ is another name for D. This is called an enharmonic. Another enharmonic is C and B♯.

[edit] Other note names

In Italy and some other countries, notes are named Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si (or Ti) instead of C, D, E, F, G, A, B. This notation is called solfege in the United States. These notes are the focus for a song in The Sound of Music.