F is a

musical note In music, a note is the representation of a musical sound. Notes can represent the pitch and duration of a sound in musical notation. A note can also represent a pitch class. Notes are the building blocks of much written music: discretizatio ...

, the fourth above C or fifth below C. It is the fourth note and the sixth

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

of the

solfège In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, pitch and sight-reading of Western music. Solfège is a form of solmization, though the tw ...

. It is also known as fa in fixed-do solfège. It has

enharmonic In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a writte ...

equivalents of E (E-sharp) and G (G-double flat), amongst others. When calculated in

equal temperament An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into equal steps. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, ...

with a reference of A above

middle C C or Do is the first note and semitone 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 fr ...

as 440 Hz, the

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

of Middle F (F4) is approximately 349.228 Hz. See

pitch (music) Pitch is a perceptual property of sounds that allows their ordering on a frequency-related scale, or more commonly, pitch is the quality that makes it possible to judge sounds as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodi ...

for a discussion of historical variations in frequency.

Designation by octave

Scales

Common scales beginning on F

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor. The F major scale is: : F major is ...

: F G A B C D E F * F natural minor: F G A B C D E F * F harmonic minor: F G A B C D E F * F

melodic minor In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which al ...

ascending: F G A B C D E F * F melodic minor descending: F E D C B A G F

Diatonic scale In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole st ...
s

* F Ionian: F G A B C D E F * F Dorian: F G A B C D E F * F Phrygian: F G A B C D E F * F Lydian: F G A B C D E F * F Mixolydian: F G A B C D E F * F Aeolian: F G A B C D E F * F Locrian: F G A B C D E F

Jazz melodic minor

* F ascending melodic minor: F G A B C D E F * F Dorian ♭2: F G A B C D E F * F Lydian augmented: F G A B C D E F * F

Lydian dominant In music, the acoustic scale, overtone scale, Lydian dominant scale, Lydian 7 scale, or the Pontikonisian Scale is a seven-note synthetic scale. : This differs from the major scale in having an augmented fourth and a minor seventh scale degre ...

: F G A B C D E F * F Mixolydian ♭6: F G A B C D E F * F Locrian ♮2: F G A B C D E F * F altered: F G A B C D E F

E-sharp

E (german: Eis) is a common

equivalent of F, but is not regarded as the same note. E is commonly found before F in the same measure in pieces where F is in the

key signature In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef a ...

, in order to represent a diatonic, rather than a chromatic semitone; writing an F with a following F is regarded as a chromatic alteration of one scale degree. Though E and F sound the same in any 12-tone temperament, other tunings may define them as distinct pitches.

References

Bibliography

* * *