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Note names
The name of a note is used to designate the pitch of a sound.
Seven notes
There are 7 musical notes and several different conventions to name them. Here we discuss the essential elements to know.
Anglo-saxon convention
A B C D E F G
Anglo-Saxons use the first 7 letters of the alphabet to name the musical notes.
This convention, prior to the Latin convention and resulting from Pope Gregory, is also used by Latin countries to name the chords and key signatures in jazz, rock and contemporary music.
The German system also uses the letters of the alphabet, but the H is used instead of B (si), the B being reserved for B flat (si ) (see table below).
Latin convention
do ré mi fa sol la si (do)
This convention, resulting from the religious music of the Middle Ages, is used in Latin-speaking countries (France, Italy, Spain, etc.) for all styles of music.
Going up and down. The note names above are given in the ascending direction, that is, from the bass to the treble. To make learning easier, it is important to know the notes in the ascending and descending directions: do si la sol fa mi ré do. Knowing the scale in both directions will help you accelerate your learning of reading notes.
Be careful, in Latin, the initial note is do, in letter, it is the A, which corresponds to la (see table below).
| Latin | Anglo-saxon | German |
|---|---|---|
| la | A | A |
| si | B | H |
| do | C | C |
| ré | D | D |
| mi | E | E |
| fa | F | F |
| sol | G | G |
| la | A | A |
| si | B | H |
Last update on 2021/05/07
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