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Other than the symbolic identifier for the pitch of the note in sheet music, is there a way to specify the pitch of a note in some other notation or call it by any other name? This would be very handy to know for a software project I am working on.

deadflowers
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  • The title seems to be asking a different question than the question body here. In the body, you are asking for an alternative nomenclature for notes, whereas in the title, you seem to be looking for a more specific naming scheme (possibly distinguishing octaves rather than just the notes within one octave). Both exist, but they are quite different in look and purpose. – O. R. Mapper Nov 27 '14 at 16:43
  • The standard "A" is often called A440, as in 440Hz. Some orchestras might use A438, A442, or others. This can be (and is) extended to any other note/pitch. –  Nov 28 '14 at 01:49

2 Answers2

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In many computer applications referring to pitches with their MIDI number is useful.

If you want to be physical about it, you could use the frequencies in Hertz.

Also, scientific pitch notation may provide a more human interpretable way of unambiguously identifying notes. (Helmholtz notation is similar, but potentially less useful due to its use of special characters to indicate octave. For indicating sharps/flats you may want to look at how they do it in lilypond)

Dave
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    Note that of these, frequencies in Hertz are different since they already incorporate tuning. The others name a note, but the exact ratios of the frequencies of those named notes depend how you choose to tune your instrument (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_tuning#Tuning_systems) – Steve Jessop Nov 27 '14 at 10:51
  • Related to MIDI numbers, one may specify pitches by combining a note name with an octave number. Within each octave, C is the lowest note, and C5=60=middle C (so Cn is 12 times n). – supercat Nov 27 '14 at 19:43
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'Call it by any other name' rather than 'pitch' - The tonic sol-fa (the clue's in the name!) as used in Britain,is an adaptation of the solfege system used in some European countries - France being one - calling C 'doh', D 'reh' and so on.Tonic sol-fa has a moveable doh, being the root note of any key. Solfege says that doh is always C. The names are note specific, and have their attendant sharps and flats.Any doh will have a frequency of 2x, 3x, 4x et al of the lowest note.

This may well not be useful to you for your software project, but could be adapted - doh 1, doh 2, etc. But it is an answer to the question.

Tim
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