C (musical note)

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For other uses, see C (disambiguation) and Hi-C (disambiguation).
Middle C audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)

C or Do is the first note of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz. The actual frequency has depended on historical pitch standards, and for transposing instruments a distinction is made between written and sounding or concert pitch.

In English the term Do is used interchangeably with C only by adherents of fixed-Do solfège; in the movable Do system Do refers to the tonic of the prevailing key.

Frequency[]

Historically, concert pitch has varied. For an instrument in equal temperament tuned to the A440 pitch standard widely adopted in 1939, middle C has a frequency around 261.63 Hz (for other notes see piano key frequencies). Scientific pitch was originally proposed in 1713 by French physicist Joseph Sauveur and based on the numerically convenient frequency of 256 Hz for middle C, all C's being powers of two. After the A440 pitch standard was adopted by musicians, the Acoustical Society of America published new frequency tables for scientific use. A movement to restore the older A435 standard has used the banners "Verdi tuning", "philosophical pitch" or the easily confused scientific pitch.

Octave nomenclature[]

Middle C[]

"Middle C" redirects here. For the novel, see Middle C (novel).

Middle C (the fourth C key from left on a standard 88-key piano keyboard) is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation, and c′ in Helmholtz pitch notation; it is note number 60 in MIDI notation.[1]

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.[2]

On the Grand Staff, Middle C is notated with a ledger line above the top line of the bass staff or below the bottom line of the treble staff. Alternatively, it is written on the centre line of a staff using the alto clef, or on the fourth line from the bottom, or the second line from the top, of staves using the tenor clef.

Other octaves[]

In vocal music, the term High C (sometimes less ambiguously called Top C[3]) can refer to either the soprano's C6 (1046.502 Hz; c′′′ in Helmholtz notation) or the tenor's C5; both are written as the C two ledger lines above the treble clef but the tenor voice sings an octave lower. 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, whereas other male voices, including bass-baritones, typically cannot.

Tenor C is an organ builder's term for small C or C3 (130.813 Hz), the note one octave below Middle C. In older stoplists it usually means that a rank wasn't yet full compass, omitting the bottom octave, until that Bottom Octave was added later on.

Designation by octave[]

Scientific designation Helmholtz designation Octave name Frequency (Hz) Other names Audio
C−1 C͵͵͵ or ͵͵͵C or CCCC Octocontra 8.176 Quadruple Low C (64' Organ Pipes) audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)
C0 C͵͵ or ͵͵C or CCC Subcontra 16.352 Triple Low C (32' Organ Pipes), Octobass C audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)
C1 C͵ or ͵C or CC Contra 32.703 Double Low C (16' Organ Pipes), (Double Bass w/ either Low C Extension, 5 Strings, or in 5ths Tuning) audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)
C2 C Great 65.406 Low C, cello C, 8' C (see organ pipe length) audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)
C3 c Small 130.813 4' C or Tenor C (organ), viola C, Tenor Middle C (Tenor Voice) audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)
C4 c′ One-lined 261.626 Middle C for Sopranos 2' Organ pipes audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)
C5 c′′ Two-lined 523.251 Treble C, Tenor High C (written an octave higher for tenor voices), [4] 1' Organ Pipes audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)
C6 c′′′ Three-lined 1046.502 High C (soprano) audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)
C7 c′′′′ Four-lined 2093.005 Double high C[citation needed] audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)
C8 c′′′′′ Five-lined 4186.009 Eighth octave C, triple high C audio speaker iconPlay (help·info)
C9 c′′′′′′ Six-lined 8372.018 Quadruple high C
C10 c′′′′′′′ Seven-lined 16744.036 Quintuple high C

Note that for a classical piano and musical theory, the middle C is usually labelled as C4; However, in the MIDI standard definition (like the one used in Apple's GarageBand), this middle C (261.626 Hz) is labelled C3. In practice, a MIDI software can label middle C (261.626 Hz) as C3-C5, which can cause confusion, especially for beginners. The frequencies given in this table are based on the standard that A=440Hz and with equal temperament

Graphic presentation[]

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

Scales[]

Common scales beginning on C[]

  • C Major: C D E F G A B C
  • C Natural Minor: C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C
  • C Harmonic Minor: C D E♭ F G A♭ B C
  • C Melodic Minor Ascending: C D E♭ F G A B C
  • C Melodic Minor Descending: C B♭ A♭ G F E♭ D C

Diatonic scales[]

Jazz melodic minor[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "MIDI Note/Key Number Chart", computermusicresource.com
  2. ^ Large, John (February 1981). "Theory in Practice: Building a Firm Foundation". Music Educators Journal. 32: 30–35.
  3. ^ Harold C. Schonberg (November 4, 1979). "Birgit Nilsson – The Return of a Super-Soprano". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "The Note That Makes Us Weep" by Daniel J. Wakin, The New York Times, September 9, 2007
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