Lesson 1 - Pitch and the Keyboard
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Terms:

note
pitch
the keyboard
letter-name
octave register
octave register number
middle C

Traditionally, musical sounds have been symbolized by notes, which indicate both pitch (the relative highness or lowness of the sound) and rhythmic value (the relative duration of the sound). This lesson is primarily concerned with pitch and its relationship to the keyboard.

Pitches are specified by a letter-name and an octave register number. Letter-names are taken from the first seven letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Example 1-1 shows a musical keyboard and the location of all the pitches with the letter-name C. You can click the different letters in the example to see the locations of other pitches that share the same letter-name.

Example 1-1

Note that every eighth white key has the same letter-name. Consequently, the distance (or interval) from a white key up to the next white key with the same letter-name is referred to as an octave (or eighth).


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