What is a Musical Note? | Definition, Types, Formula & Examples
What is a Musical Note?
The term “note” in music is known as the pitch and the duration of a musical sound.
What is the Pitch of a Musical Note?
Pitch describes the sound of a high or low note. Sound is made up of vibrations or waves. These waves have a speed or frequency at which they oscillate. The pitch of the note changes with the frequency of these vibrations. The higher the frequency of the wave, the higher the pitch of the note.
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What is the Musical Scale and the Note Letters?
In music, there are specific pitches that make up the standard notes. Most musicians use a standard called a color scale. In the timbre scale, there are 12 tones including 7 natural notes (A, B, C, D, E, F and G) and 5 sharp/flat notes (A#/Bb, C#/Db, D#/Eb, F#) /Gb and G#/Ab). Each represents a different frequency or pitch. For example, the “middle” A note has a frequency of 440 Hz and the “middle” B note has a frequency of 494 Hz.
Variations of each natural note are called sharps and flats. The sharp sign is an ascending semitone and the flat sign is a descending semitone. For example, a semitone above C would be C sharp.
What is an Octave?
After the G note, there is another set of 7 similar but higher notes. Each set of these 7 notes and their half notes is called an octave. The “middle” octave is often referred to as the 4th octave. So the octave below the frequency will be the 3rd and the octave above the frequency will be the 5th.
Each note in an octave is twice the pitch or frequency of the same note in a lower octave. For example, an A note in the 4th octave, called A4, is 440Hz, and an A note in the 5th octave, called A5 is 880Hz.
Duration of a Musical Note
The other important part of a note (besides pitch) is duration. This is the time that the note is held or played. It is important in music that the notes are played with the right timing and rhythm. Time and meters in music are very mathematical. Each note has a certain beat in a bar.
For example, a black note would be played for 1/4 beat (or one beat) in a 4-beat bar while a note and a half would be played for 1/2 beat (or two beats). The half note is played twice as long as the black note.