Notes are the fundamental building blocks of music, representing specific pitches that can be organized, combined, and sequenced to create melodies and harmonies. Every piece of music you hear—from simple folk songs to complex symphonies—is built from these basic pitch elements organized by a naming system that musicians worldwide understand.

Musical Alphabet

The musical alphabet consists of seven letter names—A, B, C, D, E, F, and G—that repeat in a continuous cycle across all registers. These letters represent the natural notes found on the white keys of a piano, with sharps (#) and flats (b) filling the spaces between them.

Between most letter names lies a sharp or flat note. For example, between C and D is C# (C sharp) or Db (D flat)—two names for the same pitch. However, there are two important exceptions: there is no sharp or flat between E and F, and none between B and C. These pairs are naturally a half step apart.

CDEFGABCDEFGAB

C♯D♯F♯G♯A♯C♯D♯F♯G♯A♯

This system gives us 12 unique pitches within any octave: A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, and G#/Ab. These 12 pitches are the complete chromatic collection from which all Western music is built. Understanding this alphabet is essential for reading music notation, communicating with other musicians, and comprehending scales and chords.

Octaves

An octave is the interval between one note and the next note with the same letter name, representing a doubling or halving of frequency. When you play C and then the next C higher or lower, you've moved one octave—the two notes sound remarkably similar despite being different pitches.

Octaves divide the pitch spectrum into manageable sections. On a piano, the pattern of 12 notes repeats across multiple octaves, typically spanning from A0 (the lowest note) to C8 (the highest note). Middle C, located near the center of the piano keyboard, is designated as C4 and serves as a common reference point for musicians.

The octave relationship is so fundamental that notes separated by octaves are given the same letter name—all C notes are called C regardless of which octave they occupy. This is because octaves sound consonant and similar to the human ear due to the mathematical relationship of their frequencies. Music theory often focuses on what happens within a single octave, since the patterns repeat identically in every octave register.

Understanding octaves helps musicians navigate their instruments, transpose music to different ranges, and communicate about which specific pitch they mean when they say a note name.

Enharmonics

Enharmonic notes are different letter names that refer to the same pitch. For example, C# and Db represent identical pitches on a piano or in equal temperament tuning—they're simply spelled differently depending on musical context.

The most common enharmonic pairs are the black keys on a piano: C#/Db, D#/Eb, F#/Gb, G#/Ab, and A#/Bb. However, enharmonics can also involve natural notes. For instance, E# is enharmonic with F, and Cb is enharmonic with B. While these look unusual, they appear regularly in music notation to maintain correct spelling within scales and keys.

Context determines which spelling to use. In the key of G major, you'll see F# (not Gb) because the scale needs one of each letter name. Similarly, in Db major, you'll see Db, Eb, and Ab rather than their sharp equivalents. Using the correct enharmonic spelling makes music easier to read and helps musicians understand the harmonic function of each note.

While enharmonic notes sound identical in modern equal temperament tuning, historical tuning systems sometimes treated them as slightly different pitches. Today, understanding enharmonics is crucial for reading music notation correctly, understanding key signatures, and communicating precisely about harmony.

Pitch vs Notes

Pitch and note are related but distinct concepts in music theory. Pitch refers to the actual frequency of a sound wave—how high or low a sound is—while a note is the written or named representation of that pitch within the musical alphabet system.

A pitch is a physical property measured in Hertz (Hz). For example, the standard tuning pitch A4 vibrates at 440 Hz. When you play that sound, you're producing a specific frequency that travels through the air as sound waves. Pitch exists in the physical world as a measurable phenomenon.

A note, by contrast, is the symbolic representation of pitch. When we write "C4" or place a note on a musical staff, we're using the note as a label for a specific pitch. The note tells musicians which pitch to produce, but the note itself is just a symbol—it's the standardized language we use to communicate about pitch.

This distinction matters because the same pitch can sometimes be represented by different note names (enharmonics), and the same note name represents different pitches in different octaves. When you see "A" written in music, it could refer to A2, A3, A4, or any other A depending on the octave. Additionally, pitch can be continuous—you can slide smoothly between frequencies—while notes are discrete, named points within that continuum.

Understanding this difference helps clarify music theory discussions and makes it easier to think about concepts like intervals and the relationship between written music and performed sound.