What does the letter designation look like?

If you look at the retrospective, the letter designation of notes appeared much earlier than the musical notation, which now symbolizes all existing sounds. Of course, it's much easier to write this or that note using the usual letters, rather than the entire letter system on five strips. Most often this method was used by non-professional musicians, who simply had to pass on their work to other people or sons. All the same, classical composers used exclusively musical staff, and letters were used in music only as auxiliary signs.

A little history of music theory

Originally, the letter designation of notes was recorded with the help of the Greek alphabet. Unfortunately, such sources have not fully reached our days, so it's impossible to say exactly which letter was the symbol of this or that note. However, soon after, in the time of antiquity, the sounds began to be recorded with the help of the Latin alphabet. Such a system is used in its original and unchanged form to this day. It is only worth noting that the appearance of a tool such as a pianoforte, this scale has widened slightly, namely to one note. For her musicians who lived in the 18th century, have already come up with a new alphabetic meaning, which was not on the list before.

Which letters write notes

Now let's look at how the letters are designated with letters, and we'll try (who needs) to remember this sequence. So, the simplest scale - C major, begins with the same name of the note Do, which in Latin is listed as C (ce). Now consider the remaining six notes in order: re-D (de), mi-E (e), fa-F (ef), salt-G (ge), la-A (a), B- . Why is B flat, not just Si, as in the natural major scale? The answer is simple: initially the structure of all the instruments of the clavier (harpsichord, clavichord) was such that the seventh sound was not the usual seventh step of the major harmony, as we used to hear it, but the lower one. However, at that time such a gamma was considered correct, and therefore for the last sound, as for all others, a letter was invented. When the piano appeared, the name B for B flat remained the same, and for the "clean" note C came up with the letter H (ha).

All other flat and sharp

Every musician knows that the sharp mark raises any note by a half, and flat, accordingly, lowers it by the same half-tone. In this case, the letter designation of the notes changes slightly, or rather continues, depending on which sign we choose. For the sharps, the ending is (is), which is attributed to the letter symbolizing the note, and for the flat is es (es). So, it turns out that Fa Diez is Fis, and Re Bemol is Des. But it is worth remembering that there are exceptions to this rule, and we will now consider them. In our scale there are two notes that are written in vowels: mi - E, la - A. If you need to say Mi Deezzes or La Diez, then we write strictly according to the rule - Eis and Ais. When it comes to the flats, then the abbreviation is used, which looks like As, Es. C Bemol, as we recall, is denoted by the letter B, and C-Diez (which is extremely rare in the texts) is written according to the His rule.

Intervals and chords in music

Today, the letter designation of notes is not used in the same way as before, that is, not as the only way to transfer music information. Now with the help of this "alphabet" intervals and chords are recorded, the meaning and composition of which every musician should know. However, it should be noted that for the notation of intervals, figures are also used that denote the number of notes covered by them. For example, the third - interval, which takes three notes, is numbered 3. Septima covers seven steps and is recorded exactly this figure. Most often, such a science is taught in music schools in solfeggio lessons, so that children understand exactly how music is built. In notes, however, it is almost impossible to find similar records. Also note that the letter designation of notes for piano is also studied for purely cognitive purposes. Notes for pianists do not contain elements of the Latin alphabet.

Musical terms for other instruments

As already mentioned above, letters are also used to indicate chords, especially when it comes to notes for stringed instruments. If the emphasis on the piano is on the technique, so there are very few chords in the notes, there will be a lot of chords, and they need to be written down much more compactly. That's why the designation of notes on the guitar is a kind of rebus for all beginning musicians. Above normal notes there are big and small letters, badges, which, it seems, can be confusing, but in reality everything is simple. If you want to play a major harmony, it will always be indicated by an uppercase letter (C - C major). If a minor is assumed, then a small letter is used and a Latin m (am - La Minor) is attributed to it. All other chords are studied in the learning process, and, believe me, it is not difficult to remember them.