Scientific Pitch Notation - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
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entific pitch notation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation
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Scientific pitch notation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scientific pitch notationin Western music is a method
of naming the notes of the standard Western chromaticscale by combining a letter-name, accidentals, and an
Hindu-Arabic numeral identifying the pitch's octave.
As an example, "A4" refers to the A above middle C
(that is, A440, the note that has a frequency of 440.0Hz).
Middle C is set as "C4" (261.6Hz). In this notation, C is
considered to be the beginning of an octave, so "D4"
through "B4" all refer to notes abovemiddle C.
Scientific pitch notation is an example of a note-octave
notation, see below.
Scientific pitch notation is often used to specify the range of an instrument. It provides an unambiguous
means of identifying a note in terms of musical notation rather than frequency, while at the same time
avoiding the transposition conventions that are used in writing the music for instruments such as the clarinet
and guitar. The conventional octave naming system, where for example C0is written as ''C, or CCC, or
referred to as subcontra C, and C4is written as c' or one-lined C, applies to the written notes that may or
may not be transposed. For example, a d' played on a B? trumpet is actually a C4in scientific pitch notation.
Three cautions should be observed:
Several variant systems (perhaps originally in error) use the same symbols as scientific pitch notation,
but differ from it in the numbering of the octaves. Some MIDI documentation uses C3to represent
middle C; other writers have used C5. Notation that appearsto be scientific pitch notation may be one
of these variant systems. While they are still note-octavesystems, when they are calledscientific pitch
notation(as does occur) this is certainly in error.
The notation is sometimes used in the context of meantone temperament, and does not always assume
equal temperament nor the standard concert A of 440 Hz; this is particularly the case in connection
with earlier music.
There is some possible confusion as to assigning the correct octave to C?. The convention is that theletter name is first combined with the Arabic numeral to determine a specific pitch, which is then
altered by applying accidentals. For example, the symbol C?4means "the pitch one chromatic step
below the pitch C4" and not "the pitch-class C? in octave 4", so C?4is the same pitch as B3, not B4.
The matter is clarified by viewing "?" and "?" as denoting a certain fixed amount of cents flat or sharp. In
equal temperament, that amount is exacly 100 cents, whereas in 1/4 comma meantone it is precisely
57/4/2048, or 76.049 cents, taking other values for other meantone tunings. Hence "C?4" is the same as
"C4?", which in equal temperament is 100 cents below middle C, and equal to B 3, and in 1/4 comma
meantone is 76 cents below C4, and sharper than B3, which is 117 cents below C4.
This is not a great problem in practice, as in most usages of scientific pitch notation one is notating equal
temperament, and neither C? nor B? need be used at all; rather these notes could be, and usually are, simply
named B and C respectively.
The first ten Cs in scientific pitch notation
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Table of note frequencies - Key: Frequency in hertz (semitones above or below middle C)
Octave
Note
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
C16.35
(-48)
32.70
(-36)
65.41
(-24)
130.8
(-12)
261.6
(0)
523.3
(+12)
1047
(+24)
2093
(+36)
4186
(+48)
8372
(+60)
C?/D?17.32
(-47)
34.65
(-35)
69.30
(-23)
138.6
(-11)
277.2
(+1)
554.4
(+13)
1109
(+25)
2217
(+37)
4435
(+49)
8870
(+61)
D18.35
(-46)
36.71
(-34)
73.42
(-22)
146.8
(-10)
293.7
(+2)
587.3
(+14)
1175
(+26)
2349
(+38)
4699
(+50)
9397
(+62)
D?/E?19.45
(-45)
38.89
(-33)
77.78
(-21)
155.6
(-9)
311.1
(+3)
622.3
(+15)
1245
(+27)
2489
(+39)
4978
(+51)
9956
(+63)
E20.60
(-44)
41.20
(-32)
82.41
(-20)
164.8
(-8)
329.6
(+4)
659.3
(+16)
1319
(+28)
2637
(+40)
5274
(+52)
10548
(+64)
F21.83
(-43)
43.65
(-31)
87.31
(-19)
174.6
(-7)
349.2
(+5)
698.5
(+17)
1397
(+29)
2794
(+41)
5588
(+53)
11175
(+65)
F?/G?23.12
(-42)
46.25
(-30)
92.50
(-18)
185.0
(-6)
370.0
(+6)
740.0
(+18)
1480
(+30)
2960
(+42)
5920
(+54)
11840
(+66)
G24.50
(-41)
49.00
(-29)
98.00
(-17)
196.0
(-5)
392.0
(+7)
784.0
(+19)
1568
(+31)
3136
(+43)
6272
(+55)
12544
(+67)
G?/A?25.96
(-40)
51.91
(-28)
103.80
(-16)
207.7
(-4)
415.3
(+8)
830.6
(+20)
1661
(+32)
3322
(+44)
6645
(+56)
13290
(+68)
A27.50
(-39)
55.00
(-27)
110.00
(-15)
220.0
(-3)
440.0
(+9)
880.0
(+21)
1760
(+33)
3520
(+45)
7040
(+57)
14080
(+69)
A?/B?29.14
(-38)
58.27
(-26)
116.50
(-14)
233.1
(-2)
466.2
(+10)
932.3
(+22)
1865
(+34)
3729
(+46)
7459
(+58)
14917
(+70)
B30.87
(-37)
61.74
(-25)
123.50
(-13)
246.9
(-1)
493.9
(+11)
987.8
(+23)
1976
(+35)
3951
(+47)
7902
(+59)
15804
(+71)
See alsoMIDI
MIDI Tuning Standard
Piano key frequencies
External links
http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory1.htm#uspitch
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation"
Category: Musical notation
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