Letter notation

C major scale letter notation. The print letters, above the staff, are not normally included. Play^ⓘ

In music, letter notation is a system of representing a set of pitches, for example, the notes of a scale, by letters. For the complete Western diatonic scale, for example, these would be the letters A-G, possibly with a trailing symbol to indicate a half-step raise (sharp, ♯) or a half-step lowering (flat, ♭). This is the most common way of specifying a note in speech or in written text in English or German. In Germany, Scandinavia, and parts of Central and Eastern Europe, H is used instead of B, and B is used instead of B♭.

If we consider the chromatic scale, new sounds are obtained by lowering or raising the seven diatonic notes by a semitone by means of flats (♭) and sharps (♯). Use of solfege or letter names depends on language. For a more complete table and explanation, see Musical note.

Diatonic scale note first   second   third fourth   fifth   sixth   seventh Solfege/Italian do   re   mi fa   sol   la   si Variations ut   -   - -   so   -   ti Sharp   do♯ di   re♯ ri     fa♯ fi   sol♯ si   la♯ li   Flat   re♭ ra   mi♭ me     sol♭ se   la♭ le   si♭ te   English C   D   E F   G   A   B Sharp   C sharp   D sharp     F sharp   G sharp   A sharp   Flat   D flat   E flat     G flat   A flat   B flat   German C   D   E F   G   A B H Sharp   Cis   Dis     Fis   Gis   Ais   Flat   Des   Es     Ges   As   B

Western letter pitch notation has the virtue of identifying discrete pitches, but among its disadvantages are its occasional inability to represent pitches or inflections lying outside those theoretically derived, or (leaving aside chordal and tablature notations) representing the relationship between pitches—e.g., it does not indicate the difference between a whole step and a half step, knowledge of which was so critical to Medieval and Renaissance performers and theorists.