There are two ways to name the notes, either by using syllables – DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI/TI – or by using letters – A B/H C D E F G.
A music note is a musical symbol used to express the pitch and duration of a sound.
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7 Notes of Music and Two Systems to Name Them
There are seven musical notes and two main systems for naming them: A B C D E F G, and DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI.
Each system has variations depending on the country that uses it: H instead of B, TI instead of SI.
The Syllabic Musical Notation: DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI/TI
The origin of the syllabic name of the music notes is attributed to the Italian monk Guido d’Arezzo, who in the 11th century used the first syllables of a Latin hymn from the vespers liturgy of the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, “Ut queant laxis,” to name each music note:
Ut queant laxis
resonare fibris
Mira gestorum
famuli tuorum,
Solve polluti
labii reatum,
Sancte Iohannes.
This yields, for the first six verses: UT – RE – MI – FA – SOL – LA
It was only at the end of the 16th century that the note SI, using the initials of the last verse, was added.
Furthermore, the musical note UT, the only one to begin with a vowel, was partially replaced by DO in the 17th century, which is easier to pronounce when reading the names of the notes aloud.
How to Read Music Notes using DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI
Learn to read music notes in the treble clef and bass clefs easily and quickly with Happy Note!’s 4K videos, using a step-by-step approach with the help of color notes. Five playback speeds are available: Largo (very slow), Adagio (slow), Andante (moderately slow), Moderato (at a moderate speed), Allegro (fast).
TI and Hollywood
In English-speaking countries during the nineteenth century, Sarah Glover, an English music educator, modified the solmization syllables. She changed “SI” to “TI” in the Norwich sol-fa system to ensure that each syllable began with a unique letter. Additionally, she reserved “SI” for potential future use as “Sol-sharp”.
Ti is utilized in tonic sol-fa and in the famed American show tune “Do-Re-Mi” which was popularized by the Hollywood movie, The Sound of Music:
Ti, a drink with jam and bread…
Happy Note! also offers videos with TI instead of SI, to gradually learn to read music notes in treble clef and bass clef with the help of color notes. Again, five playback speeds are available.
The Alphabetical Musical Notation: A B/H C D E F G
There is another notation system primarily used in Anglo-Saxon countries (and therefore also in jazz), which employs letters of the alphabet to designate each musical note: A – (B) – C – D – E – F – G
This system dating back to antiquity has origins far predating the syllabic notation introduced by Guido d’Arezzo. The Roman senator and philosopher Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, or more simply Boethius, born around 480, is known to have assigned the first fourteen letters of the classical Latin alphabet to the notes of the two-octave scale used during his time.
Although Boethius is credited as the first writer to introduce this terminology into literature, Ptolemy had already mentioned it five centuries earlier when referring to the two-octave scale, which he called a perfect or complete musical system, unlike other more restricted scales.
How to Read Music Notes with A B C D E F G
Happy Note! offers videos with the A B C D E F G notation to gradually learn to read music notes in treble clef and bass clef with the help of color notes. Five playback speeds are available.
The German Alphabetical Notation
The names of musical notes in German notation differ from the English system in two ways: the natural B (SI) or B♮ (natural) uses the letter H instead of the letter B, which is used for B♭ (flat):
A – H – C – D – E – F – G
The substitution of “B” with “H” in German notation for the note B is the result of a complex process of phonetic and historical evolution that spanned several centuries.
Johann Sebastian Bach liked to include at the end of his scores the notes “si♭-la-do-si♮”, which correspond in German notation to “B-A-C-H”.
Several composers subsequently wrote musical works using these four notes. Below, the notes “si♭-la-do-si♮” played during the organ by the pedal board are repeated several times during the introduction of the prelude:
Happy Note! also offers a video that uses German notation in G (Treble) clef to learn to read music notes step by step with the help of color notes (an F clef version is coming soon, subscribe to the Happy Note! Youtube channel to be notified!).
Music Notation and Countries
Syllabic musical notation with SI is used by Italian, Portuguese, Greek, French, Russian, Flemish, Romanian, Spanish, Hebrew and Turkish people.
Syllabic musical notation with TI is used UK and USA.
Alphabetical musical notation with B is used by Anglophone countries.
German Alphabetical notation with H is used in Germany, Poland, Russia, Scandinavia.
Correspondence Between the Name of Music Notes
| Syllabic | Alpha betical |
German |
|---|---|---|
| Do | C | C |
| Re | D | D |
| Mi | E | E |
| Fa | F | F |
| Sol | G | G |
| La | A | A |
| Si | B | H |
Each Musical Note on a Score Indicates a Pitch and a Duration of the Sound
The pitch of a note is indicated by its position on the staff and the clef placed at the beginning of that staff. The higher a note is placed on the staff, the higher the pitch will be. Conversely, the lower it is placed, the lower the pitch will be.
Its duration is expressed by the shape of the note.
The Clefs and the Place of the Note on the Musical Staff fix its Name and its Pitch
The name and pitch of each musical note is determined by its position on the staff…
…and by the clef placed at the beginning of the staff.
The Treble Clef (G Clef)
The Bass Clef (F Clef)
The C clef (alto clef, tenor clef)
Thus, with a treble clef, a note placed on the fifth line of the staff – counting the lines from bottom to top – will correspond to a midrange F (FA). While with a bass clef, it will correspond to an A (LA) that is almost two octaves lower (an octave is an interval of 8 notes separating two notes of the same name).
You can learn and understand the treble clef (G clef) in just a few seconds by watching the following video:
And you can learn and understand the bass clef (F clef) in just a few seconds by watching the following video:
The Shape of Each Music Note indicates its Value (Duration)
There are 7 music note values (and 7 musical rests): the Whole Note (British name, Semibreve), the Half Note, (Minim) the Quarter Note (Crotchet), the Eight Note (Quaver), the Sixteenth Note (Semiquaver), the Thirty-Second Note (Demisemiquaver), and the Sixty-Fourth Note (Hemidemisemiquaver).
We note that each note figure is made up of a round head, although slightly ovalized, a stem – except the whole note – and possibly a duration.
Links About Music Notes
Music Staff (or Stave)
The music staff (or stave) is made by five parallel horizontal lines.
Clefs – Treble, Bass, Alto, Tenor
Learn about musical clefs and which one is used for each musical instrument.
7 Note Values (Whole Note, Half Note, Quarter Note…)
The type (shape) of musical notes (Quarter Note, Half Note, Whole Note) fixes the note values (duration).
Music Rests (Whole Rest, Half Rest…)
For each note duration, there is a music rest of equivalent value.