What Is Pitch?
Pitch is the musician's term for the frequency of a note. Pitch refers to how
high or low a note sounds. High pitches are on the right side of the piano
keyboard and low pitches are on the left side of the piano keyboard. Pitch
ranges are often referred to in terms of the human singing voice.
Soprano - a high woman's voice
Alto - a low woman's voice
Tenor - a high man's voice
Bass - a low man's voice
The accepted pitch standard is A-440, i.e., the note A above middle C has a
frequency of 440 cycles per second. [
more
about frequency]
Musical Alphabet
The musical alphabet consists of the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. These
letters represent musical pitches and correspond to the white keys on the
piano. As you move forward through the musical alphabet the pitch of each note
gets higher. The musical alphabet is repeated a little over seven times on the
88 keys of the piano keyboard.
Keyboard White Keys
The piano keyboard consists of white keys and black keys. The white keys
correspond to the musical alphabet A to G. The black keys are commonly called
"sharps and flats," and are arranged in groups of twos and threes. Using these
black key groups you can identify any note on the keyboard. C is always the
white key immediately to the left of a two black key group. Once you know where
a C is, the other notes fall into alphabetical order from that reference point.
Music Staff
The music staff consists of five lines and four spaces. Each letter of the
musical alphabet A to G corresponds to a specific line or space. The plural of
staff is staves. Staves are often connected by a brace or bracket and barlines.
Lines and Spaces
Notes can be drawn on any of the staff's five lines or within any of the four
spaces. A note on a line is centered on the line. A note in a space is
contained within the space between the lines.
Ledger Lines
Ledger lines are short horizontal lines placed above or below the musical staff
that extend the range of the staff. Ledger lines maintain the spacing of the
staff lines and extend slightly beyond each note head.
Pitch Order
There is an exact correlation in pitch order between playing consecutive white
keys on the piano, writing notes on the musical staff, and the letters of the
musical alphabet.
Whole and Half Steps
The half step is the smallest unit of pitch used in Western music. On the
piano, a half step is the musical interval from any one key to its closest
neighbor, either black or white. Half steps occur naturally between the two
white key pairs E-F and B-C. Two consecutive half steps are called a whole
step.
Accidentals
Accidentals are symbols that alter the pitch of a note.
Accidentals are placed immediately to the left of the note they affect.
Keyboard Black Keys
The black keys on the piano are used to play sharp or flat notes. The key
immediately to the right of any white key is called "that white key name"
sharp. The key immediately to the left of any white key is called "that white
key name" flat. It is possible to have a white key called sharp or flat. For
example, the note B could be called C flat and the note C could be called B
sharp.
Enharmonic Notes
Enharmonic notes are two notes that have the same pitch but are written or
spelled differently. For example, A sharp and B flat are enharmonic equivalents
because they are played using the same black key on the piano. Starting with A,
one half step higher is A sharp. Starting with B, one half step lower is B
flat.
Enharmonic Keyboard
The piano is an enharmonic keyboard. Each key of the piano can represent
several notes.
Clefs
A clef symbol is placed at the beginning of each staff to fix the location of a
specific pitch.
Treble Clef Names
The treble clef is also called the G clef because the clef symbol curls around
the line that represents the G above middle C.
The names of the treble clef lines can be remembered by the saying "Every Good
Boy Does Fine." The spaces spell "F A C E."
Bass Clef Names
The bass clef is also called the F clef because the clef symbol locates the
line that represents the F below middle C.
The names of the bass clef lines can be remembered by the saying "Good Boys Do
Fine Always." The spaces by "All Cars Eat Gas" or "All Cows Eat Grass".
Alto Clef Names
The alto clef is also called the C clef because the clef symbol locates the
line that represents middle C.The alto clef is used less often than the treble
or bass clefs.