themusictheorycourse.comFree online lesson, with sound and self-correcting exercises
I.5Part I, The Signs of Notation
The Names of the Notes
By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to recite the seven note names in both directions, and you'll know what an octave is.
7 min8 questionsDanhauser § 15 to 17, note (b)
To express every sound, we need only seven note names:
In this order, the notes form a series of sounds going from low to high, called the ascending series. After B, a second identical series begins, higher up, then a third, a fourth, and so on.
Two complete series, then the start of a third.
If you say the names in reverse order, you get a series going from high to low: the descending series, C, B, A, G, F, E, D, C.
Descending series.
The octave
The distance between two notes with the same name in neighboring series is called an octave. From one C to the next C there is an octave: eight notes if you count both ends, which is where the name comes from, since “octo” means eight in Latin.
Two notes an octave apart blend so well that we hear them as “the same note”, only lower or higher. That's why they share a name.
WorkshopOnline Piano Keyboard with Note NamesFull screen
On the keyboard, the seven names repeat in every octave. The marked keys are two Cs an octave apart.
Middle C = C4 (French: do3)
C3
D
E
F
G
A
B
C4
D
E
F
G
A
B
C5
D
E
F
G
A
B
C6
Press a key: you hear the sound and see its name and its place on the staff.
Where do the syllables come from?
The first six syllables (ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la) come from the first stanza of the hymn to Saint John the Baptist, sung in the Middle Ages. Each line of the hymn begins one step higher than the line before, and the first syllable of each line became the name of its note.
Latin line
Syllable
Ut queant laxis
ut
Resonare fibris
re
Mira gestorum
mi
Famuli tuorum
fa
Solve polluti
sol
Labii reatum
la
Sancte Iohannes
si (added later)
“So that your servants may sing out the wonders of your deeds, cleanse the guilt of their stained lips, Saint John.”
Letter names
Notes were already named with letters before Guido, and letters remain the standard in English-speaking and German-speaking countries. Here is how the letters match the syllables:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
la
si
do
re
mi
fa
sol
Exercisein the method's spirit
Write the name of each note above it, knowing that the first one is a C.
Solution
C, E, G, C, B, F, D, A.
You know the names now, but how do you tell which note is which on the staff? That's the job of the clef, and it's the subject of our next lesson.
Check your understanding
8 questions
1.
How many note names are there?
2.
Which note follows B in the ascending series?
3.
What is the descending series starting from G?
4.
An octave is the distance between:
5.
Where do the names of the first six syllables come from?
6.
In the syllable system, the one with do, re and mi, the note E is called:
7.
In German, the letter H stands for:
8.
Middle C is C4. What is the B just below it called in scientific pitch notation?
A lesson is completed automatically at 70% on the quiz. You can also mark it yourself.
A question, a mistake, a word about this lesson? Write to us.