Editing Letter notation

{{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.

==History==
{{main|Musical note#History of note names|l1=Note: History of note names}}

The earliest known letter notation in the Western musical tradition appear in the textbook on music ''De institutione musica'' by the 6th-century philosopher [[Boethius]]. A modified form is next found in the ''Dialogus de musica'' (ca. 1000) by Pseudo-Odo, in a discussion of the division of the [[monochord]].<ref>See "Medieval letter notations: a survey of the sources" by Alma Colk Browne (Ph. D. thesis. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1979) and "Medieval Canonics" by Jan Herlinger, in ''The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory,'' Thomas Christensen, ed., 2002. Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-62371-5}}</ref>

==Guitar chords==
{{main|guitar chord}}
{{see also|Chord notation}}

Letter notation is the most common way of indicating chords for accompaniment, such as guitar chords, for example B{{music|b}}<sup>7</sup>. The bass note may be specified after a /, for example C/G is a C major chord with a G bass.

Where a [[Capo (musical device)|capo]] is indicated, there is little standardisation. For example, after ''capo 3'', most music sheets will write A to indicate a C chord, that is, they give the chord ''shape'' rather than its pitch, but some specify it as C, others give two lines, either the C on top and the A on the bottom or vice versa. A few even use the /, writing C/A or A/C, but this notation is more commonly used for specifying a bass note and will confuse most guitarists.

==Choice of note names==

In the context of a piece of music, notes must be named for their [[diatonic functionality]]. For example, in the key of D major, it is not generally correct to specify G{{music|b}} as a melodic note, although its pitch may be the same as F{{music|#}}, as F{{music|#}} is diatonic to D major, while G{{music|b}} is not.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Kostka |first=Stefan M. |title=Tonal harmony, with an introduction to twentieth-century music |last2=Payne |first2=Dorothy |date= |publisher=McGraw-Hill |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-07-285260-8 |edition=5th |location=Boston}}</ref> (In many [[musical tuning|tuning systems]] other than twelve tone [[equal temperament]], the pitch of G{{music|b}} is ''not'' the same as that of F{{music|#}}). This is normally only an issue in describing the notes corresponding to the black keys of the piano; there is little temptation to write C as B{{music|#}} although both may be valid names of the same note. Each is correct in its context.

Note names are also used for specifying the natural scale of a [[transposing instrument]] such as a [[clarinet]], [[trumpet]], or [[saxophone]]. The note names used are conventional, for example a clarinet is said to be in B{{music|b}}, E{{music|b}}, or A (the three most common registers), never in A{{music|#}}, and D{{music|#}}, and B{{music|bb}} (double-flat), while an [[alto flute]] is in G.<ref name=":0" />

==Octaves==

Note names can also be qualified to indicate the octave in which they are sounded. There are several schemes for this, the most common being [[scientific pitch notation]].

Scientific pitch notation is often used to specify the range of an instrument. Where sharps or flats are necessary for this, these are related to the natural scale of the instrument if it has one, otherwise the choice is arbitrary.

==Other note naming schemes==
[[File:Map of current European preferred note naming.png|238px|thumb|Map of current European preferred note naming
{{legend|#0000ff|Fixed do solfège (Si,La diesis, Si bemolle)}}
{{legend|#ff0000|English system (B, A#, Bb)}}
{{legend|#00ff00|German system (H, Ais,B)}}
{{legend|#00ffff|Dutch system (B, Ais,Bes)}}
{{legend|#ffff00|Danish system (H, A#, Bb)}}
{{legend|#ababab|No data}}
]]
* In many languages (such as those in the [[Romance languages|Romance]] and [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] families), notes are named by [[Solfege#Fixed do solfège|solmization syllables]] (''do, re, mi,...'') instead of letters.
* [[Tonic sol-fa]] is a type of notation using the initial letters of [[solfege]].
* Alpha is a chromatic extension of the letter notation proposed by the French musician Raphaël André.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-18 |title=AlphabetChromatique |url=http://souslepont.org/alphabetChromatique/ |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=souslepont.org |language=fr}}</ref><score lang="lilypond" note-language="nederlands">{
  <<
    \new Voice = "one" {
\relative c''{
\time 7/4
ais bis cis dis eis fis gis
<a a,> b, c d e f <g g,> 
as, bes ces des es fes ges 
beses,
}
    }
    \new Lyrics \lyricsto "one" {
t u v w x y z
a b c d e f g 
h i j k l n o 
p 
    }
  >>
}</score>

==See also==
* [[Antiphonary of St. Benigne#The alphabetic notation invented by William of Volpiano|Antiphonary of St. Benigne]], letter notation by [[William of Volpiano]]
* [[Abc notation]], a letter notation based file format for computer storage of music
* [[Helmholtz pitch notation]]
* [[Keyboard tablature]]
* [[Musical notation]]
* [[Solfege]]
* [[Swara]]

==References==
<references />

{{Musical notation}}
{{Pitch (music)}}

[[Category:Musical notation]]