Editing Letter notation (section)

{{Short description|Musical nomenclature with letters to indicate pitch}}
[[Image:C major scale letter notation.png|thumb|C major scale letter notation. The ''print'' letters, above the staff, are not normally included. {{audio|C major scale.mid|Play}}]]

In [[music]], '''letter notation''' is a system of representing a set of pitches, for example, the notes of a [[musical scale|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'', {{music|#}}) or a half-step lowering (''flat'', {{music|b}}). This is the most common way of specifying a note in speech or in written text in English or German. In Germany, Scandinavia, and parts of Central and Eastern Europe, H is used instead of B, and B is used instead of B{{music|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]].

{| style="width:100%; background:transparent"
| align="center" |
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
!align="left" |Diatonic scale note
! first||&nbsp;||second||&nbsp;||third||fourth||&nbsp;||fifth||&nbsp;||sixth||&nbsp;||seventh
|- 
!style="text-align:left" |Solfege/Italian
|  do  ||&nbsp;||  re  ||&nbsp;||  mi ||  fa  ||&nbsp;|| sol   ||&nbsp;||  la  ||&nbsp;|| si
|-
!style="text-align:left" |Variations
|  ut  ||&nbsp;||   -  ||&nbsp;||  -  ||  -   ||&nbsp;|| so    ||&nbsp;||  -   ||&nbsp;|| ti
|-
!style="text-align:left" |Sharp
|&nbsp;||  do♯<br/>di ||&nbsp;||  re♯<br/>ri ||&nbsp;||&nbsp;||  fa♯<br/>fi  ||&nbsp;||  sol♯<br/>si  ||&nbsp;|| la♯<br/>li ||&nbsp;
|- 
!style="text-align:left" |Flat
|&nbsp;|| re♭<br/>ra ||&nbsp;|| mi♭<br/>me ||&nbsp;||&nbsp;|| sol♭<br/>se  ||&nbsp;|| la♭<br/>le  ||&nbsp;|| si♭<br/>te ||&nbsp;
|-
!style="text-align:left" |English
||C||&nbsp;||D||&nbsp;||E||F||&nbsp;||G||&nbsp;||A||&nbsp;||B
|- 
!style="text-align:left" |Sharp
|&nbsp;|| C sharp ||&nbsp;|| D sharp  ||&nbsp;||&nbsp;|| F sharp  ||&nbsp;|| G sharp   ||&nbsp;|| A sharp  ||&nbsp;
|- 
!style="text-align:left" |Flat
|&nbsp;|| D flat ||&nbsp;|| E flat   ||&nbsp;||&nbsp;|| G flat  ||&nbsp;|| A flat    ||&nbsp;|| B flat  ||&nbsp;
|-
!style="text-align:left" |German
|  C   ||&nbsp;||  D   ||&nbsp;||  E   ||  F   ||&nbsp;|| G    ||&nbsp;||  A   ||&nbsp;|| H
|-
!style="text-align:left" |Sharp
|&nbsp;|| Cis ||&nbsp;|| Dis  ||&nbsp;||&nbsp;|| Fis  ||&nbsp;|| Gis   ||&nbsp;|| Ais  ||&nbsp;
|- 
!style="text-align:left" |Flat
|&nbsp;|| Des ||&nbsp;|| Es   ||&nbsp;||&nbsp;|| Ges  ||&nbsp;|| As    ||&nbsp;|| B  ||&nbsp;
|}
|}

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.