The name of each music note is determined by its place on the staff…
…and the clef placed at the beginning of this staff.
There are seven notes of music and two different systems to name the music notes: A B C D E F G and DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI.
FREE! Learn to read music notes online with DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI or A B C D E F G now!
The syllabic musical notation: DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI (TI)
The origin of the syllabic notation is due to the Italian monk Guido of Arezzo (XIth century) who used the first syllables of a Latin hymn to name the music notes and is regarded as the inventor of the modern musical notation:
DO (or UT) – RE – MI – FA – SOL – LA – SI (TI)
The alphabetical musical notation: A B/H C D E F G
Mainly used in Anglo Saxon countries (and so in jazz), it uses the letters of the alphabet:
A – B – C – D – E – F – G
The German alphabetical music notation
The German music notation uses a H and not a B (SI/TI in alphabetical notation):
A – H – C – D – E – F – G
Music notation and countries
Syllabic musical notation is used by Italian, Portuguese, Greek, French, Russian, Flemish, Romanian, Spanish, Hebrew and Turkish people.
Alphabetical musical notation is used by Anglophone countries.
German Alphabetical notation is used in Germany, Poland, Russia, Scandinavia.
Correspondence between the name of notes
| Syllabic | Alphabetical | German Alphabetical |
| Do | C | C |
| Re | D | D |
| Mi | E | E |
| Fa | F | F |
| Sol | G | G |
| La | A | A |
| Si | B | H |