C or Do is the first
note and
semitone of the
C major scale, the third note of the
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major.
The A natural minor scale is:
:
Changes ...
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
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 ...
has depended on historical
pitch standards, and for
transposing instruments a distinction is made between written and sounding or
concert pitch. It has
enharmonic equivalents of B and D.
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
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, ...
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
Scientific pitch, also known as philosophical pitch, Sauveur pitch or Verdi tuning, is an absolute concert pitch standard which is based on middle C ( C4) being set to 256 Hz rather than 261.62 Hz, making it approximately 37.6 cents ...
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
A power of two is a number of the form where is an integer, that is, the result of exponentiation with number two as the base and integer as the exponent.
In a context where only integers are considered, is restricted to non-negati ...
. After the A440 pitch standard was adopted by musicians, the
Acoustical Society of America
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary org ...
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
Scientific pitch, also known as philosophical pitch, Sauveur pitch or Verdi tuning, is an absolute concert pitch standard which is based on middle C ( C4) being set to 256 Hz rather than 261.62 Hz, making it approximately 37.6 cents ...
.
Octave nomenclature
Middle C
Middle'' ''C (the fourth C key from left on a standard 88-key
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
keyboard) is designated C
4 in
scientific pitch notation
Scientific pitch notation (SPN), also known as American standard pitch notation (ASPN) and international pitch notation (IPN), is a method of specifying musical pitch by combining a musical note name (with accidental if needed) and a number id ...
, and c′ in
Helmholtz pitch notation
Helmholtz pitch notation is a system for naming musical notes of the Western chromatic scale. Fully described and normalized by the German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz, it uses a combination of upper and lower case letters (A to G), and th ...
; it is note number 60 in
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...
notation.
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. C
4 may be called ''Low C'' by someone playing a
Western concert flute
The Western concert flute is a family of transverse (side-blown) woodwind instruments made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist (in British English), flutist (in Ame ...
, which has a higher and narrower
playing range
In music, the range, or chromatic range, of a musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play. For a singing voice, the equivalent is vocal range. The range of a musical part is the distance between its lo ...
than the piano, while C
5 (523.251 Hz) would be Middle C. This technically inaccurate practice has led some pedagogues to encourage standardizing on C
4 as the definitive Middle C in instructional materials across all instruments.
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 called ''Top C''
) can refer to either the soprano's
''C''6 (1046.502 Hz; ''c''′′′ in Helmholtz notation) or the tenor's ''C''
5; 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 ''C''
2 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
Organ building is the profession of designing, building, restoring and maintaining pipe organs.
The organ builder usually receives a commission to design an organ with a particular disposition of stops, manuals, and actions, creates a d ...
's term for ''small C'' or ''C''
3 (130.813 Hz), the note one
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
below Middle C. In older stoplists it usually means that a
rank was not yet full compass, omitting the bottom octave, until that octave was added later on.
Designation by octave
Note that for a classical piano and musical theory, the middle C is usually labelled as C
4; However, in the
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...
standard definition (like the one used in
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...
's
GarageBand
GarageBand is a line of digital audio workstations developed by Apple Inc. for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS devices that allows users to create music or podcasts. GarageBand is developed by Apple for macOS, and was once part of the iLife softwar ...
), this middle C (261.626 Hz) is labelled C
3. In practice, a MIDI software can label middle C (261.626 Hz) as C
3–C
5, 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
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, ...
Graphic presentation
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 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
* C
Ionian: C D E F G A B C
* C
Dorian: C D E F G A B C
* C
Phrygian: C D E F G A B C
* C
Lydian: C D E F G A B C
* C
Mixolydian: C D E F G A B C
* C
Aeolian: C D E F G A B C
* C
Locrian: C D E F G A B C
Jazz melodic minor
* C
ascending melodic minor: C D E F G A B C
* C
Dorian ♭2: C D E F G A B C
* C
Lydian augmented: C D E F G A B C
* C
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 ...
: C D E F G A B C
* C
Mixolydian ♭6: C D E F G A B C
* C
Locrian ♮2: C D E F G A B C
* C
altered: C D E F G A B C
See also
*
Piano key frequencies
*
A440 (pitch standard)
A440 (also known as Stuttgart pitch) is the musical pitch corresponding to an audio frequency of 440 Hz, which serves as a tuning standard for the musical note of A above middle C, or A4 in scientific pitch notation. It is standardized by th ...
*
C major
*
C minor
*
Root (chord)
In music theory, the concept of root is the idea that a chord can be represented and named by one of its notes. It is linked to harmonic thinking—the idea that vertical aggregates of notes can form a single unit, a chord. It is in this sens ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:C (Musical Note)
Musical notes