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| Generally: a single sound of constant pitch | * Generally: a single sound of constant pitch | ||
| Musically: a pitch which has a name assigned to it. (eg C sharp; mi ) | * Musically: a pitch which has a name assigned to it. (eg C sharp; mi ) | ||
| Specifically: the event of a sound being played in a piece of music, or the symbol in printed music representing the sound to be played. | * Specifically: the event of a sound being played in a piece of music, or the symbol in printed music representing the sound to be played. | ||
| </i> | </i> | ||
Revision as of 00:31, 20 January 2002
A note in musical theory denotes a sound of constant pitch lasting for a specified time.
In western music, notes are assigned alphabetic names (A, B, C etc...) which are separated in pitch by a certain frequency called a tone. When written out as score each tone is assigned a rung on the stave:
http://meta.wikipedia.com/upload/c_maj.png
Tones can be further divided into semitones, which have the value of half a tone. Because the lines on the stave only distinguish between tones, notes are modified by the use of accidentals. The two main accidentals are sharps and flats; these respectively raise or lower the pitch of a note by a semitone.
This needs a re-write. The picture is great, but:
- the notes A,B,C... are not seperated by tones.
- "rung" is ambigious. notes are placed across lines or in spaces.
- accidental signs change pitch, but accidental notes are those which have been modified by sings to be out of the scale of a piece. This definition becomes shaky in pieces that don't use the diatonic scale.
Part of the problem lies in that the terminology of the subject itself ambiguous. A note is a piece of sound, eg the C sharp key on my piano plays a note. On the page is printed a note, which is C sharp. These two uses of the word to me are different in some way which I can't yet qualify. A rough attempt:
- Generally: a single sound of constant pitch
- Musically: a pitch which has a name assigned to it. (eg C sharp; mi )
- Specifically: the event of a sound being played in a piece of music, or the symbol in printed music representing the sound to be played.