C (musical note)

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This article is about the musical note. For the fruit drink, see Hi-C. For other uses, see C (disambiguation).

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"Middle C" redirects here. For the novel by William H. Gass, see Middle C (novel).

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"Do note" redirects here. For the iOS and Android app, see Do Note.
Middle C <phonos file="Middle C.mid">Play</phonos>.

In terms of musical pitch, C or Do is the first note of the fixed-Do solfège scale. Its enharmonic is B♯ (B-sharp, His in some European countries), which is by definition a diatonic semitone below C♯.

Middle C

When the A440 pitch standard is used to tune a musical instrument, Middle C has a frequency around 261.6 Hz. Middle C is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation because of the note's position as the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard.

Another system known as scientific pitch assigns a frequency of 256 Hz but, while numerically convenient, this is not used by orchestras. Other note-octave systems, including those used by some makers of digital music keyboards, may refer to Middle C differently. In MIDI, Middle C is note number 60.

The C4 designation is the most commonly recognized in auditory science[citation needed], and in musical studies it is often used in place of the Helmholtz designation c'.

While the expression "Middle C" is generally clear across instruments and clefs, some musicians naturally use the term to refer to the C note in the middle of their specific instrument's range. C4 may be called "Low C" by someone playing a Western concert flute, which has a higher and narrower playing range than the piano, while C5 (523.251 Hz) would be Middle C. This technically inaccurate practice has led some pedagogues to encourage standardizing on C4 as the definitive Middle C in instructional materials across all instruments.[1]

In vocal music, the term Soprano C,[citation needed] sometimes called "High C" or "Top C," is the C two octaves above Middle C. It is so named because it is considered the defining note of the soprano voice type. It is C6 in scientific pitch notation (1046.502 Hz) and c''' in Helmholtz notation. The term Tenor C is sometimes used in vocal music[citation needed] to refer to C5, as it is the highest required note in the standard tenor repertoire. The term Low C is sometimes used in vocal music to refer to C2 because this is considered the divide between true basses and bass-baritones: a basso can sing this note easily while other male voices, including bass-baritones, cannot.

In organ music, the term Tenor C can refer to an organ builder's term for small C or C3 (130.813 Hz), the note one octave below Middle C. In stoplists it usually means that a rank is not full compass, omitting the bottom octave.[2]

For the frequency of each note on a standard piano, see piano key frequencies.

Designation by octave

Scientific designation Helmholtz designation Bilinear music notation Octave name Frequency (Hz) Other names Audio
C-1 C͵͵͵ or ͵͵͵C or CCCC (-uC) Subsubcontra 8.176 <phonos file="C8.18.mid">Play</phonos>
C0 C͵͵ or ͵͵C or CCC (-vC) Subcontra 16.352 <phonos file="C16.35.mid">Play</phonos>
C1 C͵ or ͵C or CC (-wC) Contra 32.703 <phonos file="C32.7.mid">Play</phonos>
C2 C (-xC) Great 65.406 Low C <phonos file="C65.41.mid">Play</phonos>
C3 c (-yC) Small 130.813 Bass C, Tenor C (organ) <phonos file="C130.81.mid">Play</phonos>
C4 c′ (zC) One-lined 261.626 Middle C <phonos file="Middle C.mid">Play</phonos>
C5 c′′ (yC) Two-lined 523.251 Tenor C (vocal), Treble C <phonos file="Perfect octave on C.mid">Play</phonos>
C6 c′′′ (xC) Three-lined 1046.502 Soprano C (vocal), High C (vocal), Top C (vocal) <phonos file="Perfect fifteenth on C.mid">Play</phonos>
C7 c′′′′ (wC) Four-lined 2093.005 <phonos file="C2093.01.mid">Play</phonos>
C8 c′′′′′ (vC) Five-lined 4186.009 Eighth octave C <phonos file="Eighth octave on C.mid">Play</phonos>
C9 c′′′′′′ (uC) Six-lined 8372.018 <phonos file="C8372.02.mid">Play</phonos>
C10 c′′′′′′′ (tC) Seven-lined 16744.036 <phonos file="C16744.04.mid">Play</phonos>

Graphic presentation

Middle C in four clefs
Position of Middle C on an 88-key keyboard

Scales

Common scales beginning on C

Diatonic scales

Jazz Melodic Minor

B sharp

Comparison of notes derived from, or near, twelve perfect fifths (B♯).

Twelve just perfect fifths (B♯) and seven octaves do not align as in equal temperament.

  • Pythagorean: 701.955 × 12 = 8423.46 = 23.46 = B♯+++
  • ET: 700 × 12 = 8400 = 0 = B♯ = C
  • 1200 × 7 = 8400 = 0 = C

This difference, 23.46 cents (531441/524288), is known as the Pythagorean comma.

See also

References

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