Scientific pitch notation

Scientific Pitch Notation (also known as note-octave notation) in Western music is a method of naming the notes of the standard Western chromatic scale by combining a letter-name, accidentals, and an Arabic numeral identifying the pitch's octave.

Related Topics:
Note-octave notation - Western music - Chromatic scale - Arabic numeral - Pitch - Octave

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Example: A4 generally refers to the A above middle C, and has a fundamental frequency of 440.00 Hz.

Related Topics:
Middle C - Hz

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Note that the symbol "Cb4" means "the pitch one chromatic step below the pitch C4" and not "the pitch-class Cb in octave 4." Thus Cb4 is the same pitch as B3, not B4. The letter name is first combined with the Arabic numeral to determine a specific pitch, which is then altered by applying accidentals. For this reason, the notation "C4b" would be slightly more consistent, though significantly less legible.

Related Topics:
Pitch-class - Accidental

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scientific pitch notation is useful, for example, when describing the written pitch and sounding pitch of a transposing instrument. However, there is no one standard which correlates any particular octave number to a specific frequency range. For instance, traditional pitch class notation, Japanese MIDI specs and American MIDI specs may specify dissimilar ordinals for middle C (C3 vs. C4). In addition, this notation system assumes 12 tone equal temperament and does not specify that A above middle C must conform to ISO 16 frequency standard.

Related Topics:
Sounding pitch - Transposing instrument - Frequency - MIDI - Ordinal - Equal temperament - ISO

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~