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- Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display the special characters for the sharp (♯) and flat (♭) symbols. Consequently, this article uses the similar-looking characters # for sharp and b for flat.
In music, letter notation is a system of representing the notes of the 12-tone scale by their letter names A-G, possibly with a trailing sharp or flat symbol, such as A# or Bb. This is the most common way of specifying a note in speech or in written text.
Letter notation is the most common way of indicating chords for accompaniment, such as guitar chords, for example Bb7. The bass note may be specified after a /, for example C/G is a C major chord with a G bass.
Where a capo is indicated, there is little standardisation. For example, after capo 3, most music sheets will write A to indicate a C chord, that is, they give the chord shape rather than its pitch, but some specify it as C, others give two lines, either the C on top and the A on the bottom or vice versa. A few even use the /, writing C/A or A/C, but this notation is more commonly used for specifying a bass note and will confuse most guitarists.
Sharp, or flat?
In the context of a piece of music, notes must be named for their diatonic functionality. For example, in the key of D major, it is not generally correct to specify Gb as a melodic note, although its pitch may be the same as F#. This is normally only an issue in describing the notes corresponding to the black notes of the piano; There is little temptation to write C as B# although these are both valid names of the same note. Each is correct in its context.
Note names are also used for specifying the natural scale of a transposing instrument such as a clarinet, trumpet or saxophone. The note names used are conventional, for example a clarinet is said to be in Bb, Eb, or A (the three most common registers), never in A# and D# and B double-flat, while an alto flute is in G.
Note names can also be qualified to indicate the octave in which they are sounded. There are several schemes for this, the most common being scientific pitch notation.
Scientific pitch notation is often used to specify the range of an instrument. Where sharps or flats are necessary for this, these are related to the natural scale of the instrument if it has one, otherwise the choice is arbitrary.
Other note naming schemes
Tonic Sol-fa is a type of notation using the initial letters of solfege.
- Abc notation, a letter notation based file format for computer storage of music
- Musical notation