Music Notation Around the World
Once you finish this lesson, you'll move confidently between English letter names, the fixed-do syllables used in France and elsewhere, and German note names. You'll also see how to convert French octave numbers to scientific pitch notation, and how to read a chord symbol.
Where do, re and mi come from
Let's begin with a little history. The syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la come from the opening syllables of the lines of a hymn to Saint John the Baptist, “Ut queant laxis,” in which each line begins one step higher than the last. This memory aid is credited to Guido of Arezzo (Guido d'Arezzo), an 11th-century monk. Si was added later, from the initials of “Sancte Iohannes.” The Italians replaced ut, which they felt was too dull to sing, with do, and France followed. But ut survives there in the name of the C clefs, “clés d'ut,” and in titles of works, such as “Symphonie en ut mineur,” Symphony in C minor. In 19th-century England, the tonic sol-fa movement changed si to ti, so that every syllable would start with a different letter. That's why English speakers sing “do re mi fa sol la ti.”
Letters and syllables
| English | French (fixed do) | German |
|---|---|---|
| C | do (formerly ut) | C |
| D | ré | D |
| E | mi | E |
| F | fa | F |
| G | sol | G |
| A | la | A |
| B | si | H |
| B-flat (Bb) | si bémol | B |
| C-sharp (C#) | do dièse | Cis |
| E-flat (Eb) | mi bémol | Es |
| A-flat (Ab) | la bémol | As |
Octave numbers
In the English-speaking world, octaves follow scientific pitch notation: middle C is C4, the tuning A, at 440 hertz, is A4, and the number goes up at each C. France numbers octaves one step lower, counting from the low C of the old keyboard, so middle C is do3 and the tuning A is la3. To convert a French octave number to scientific notation, just add 1. You may meet two more systems: older and German books use Helmholtz notation, where middle C is written c′, and some keyboards and music software label middle C as “C3.” When in doubt, look for middle C.
Press a key: you hear the sound and see its name and its place on the staff.
Note values in American, British, and French
| American | British | French | Matching rest (US, with the French name) |
|---|---|---|---|
| whole note | semibreve | ronde | whole rest (pause) |
| half note | minim | blanche | half rest (demi-pause) |
| quarter note | crotchet | noire | quarter rest (soupir) |
| eighth note | quaver | croche | eighth rest (demi-soupir) |
| sixteenth note | semiquaver | double croche | sixteenth rest (quart de soupir) |
| 32nd note | demisemiquaver | triple croche | 32nd rest (huitième de soupir) |
| 64th note | hemidemisemiquaver | quadruple croche | 64th rest (seizième de soupir) |
| double whole note | breve | note carrée (brève) | double whole rest (bâton de deux pauses) |
MIDI and frequencies
Electronic instruments and software identify each key by a MIDI note number. Middle C is number 60, the A at 440 hertz is number 69, and each half step adds 1. In equal temperament, you get the frequency from the formula f = 440 × 2(n - 69)/12, where n is the MIDI number. So middle C vibrates at about 261.6 hertz.
Beats
Two slightly different A's played together produce a pulsation: the number of beats per second equals the difference in hertz. Musicians and tuners use it to adjust their intonation.
Danhauser speaks of “870 vibrations”: a count of single vibrations (one way), that is 435 complete cycles, 435 Hz.
Chord symbols, chord charts, and tablature
In jazz and pop, harmony is written as chord symbols above the melody, such as C, Am, G7, Fmaj7 or D/F#; you met them in the lessons on chords. Guitarists also read chord diagrams, which are pictures of the fretboard, and tablature, which shows the string and fret to play rather than the pitch. Tablature is handy for fingerings, but it's no substitute for the staff when it comes to rhythm and analysis.
Translate: a) the French “la bémol, mi, fa dièse” into English letter names; b) the German “H, Es, Fis” into English; c) the French octave names “sol2, do4, la3” into scientific pitch notation.
With these few tables, you can now read music written almost anywhere. A few questions to finish, and you're done with this lesson.