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  1. Note naming conventions

    Hello, I wanted to ask a question about certain names of notes. I’m a beginner and I can read Bass clef well, but I often hear others saying things about “high F” “High C”, and I was wondering what these all meant. Or sometimes I see something like “start playing or tuning to C#”. And whenever these names are mentioned I just get confused. It seems to be something that is just learned, the names of specific notes, as I’ve never had these names explicitly explained to me. If someone could explain what all these notes are on the bass clef I’d appreciate it!

  2. Common question in other forums. Also one to likely get you into treble.
    Richard


    King 1130 Flugabone
    King 2280 Euphonium
    King 10J Tuba
    Conn 22B Trumpet

  3. #3
    That's a good question, actually, and we DO get confusing in how we talk. I'm especially guilty because I can never remember what a C2 is vs a C3 for example.

    So in concert-pitch bass clef, this is how *I* talk about it:

    I use the "absolute" word "low" to cover notes starting at 2nd line Bb and going down nearly an octave. When I say "low F" I mean the F just under the bass clef staff.

    The next Bb (below the 2nd ledger line under that staff) begins the "pedal" range.

    I use the "absolute" word "high" to cover the Bb an octave above the bass clef and the notes above it. So I would say a "high F" to mean the one above "high Bb."

    I use the "relative" word "upper" as a convenience. For example, we have 2 F's between the range I designate as low and high, one on the 4th line and one on top of the 2nd ledger line above the staff. So I might refer to the latter as your "upper F".

    That may not be a comprehensive list of my personal terms!

    The last variation of Arban's Carnival of Venice, in my words, goes down to a low F, and concludes on the upper Eb. The flashy ending note many people play I call high Eb.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
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  4. Thanks for the explanation! It seems like one of those things I’ll just have to get a feeling for over time depending on who I’m playing with

  5. #5
    Treble clef brits are even more fun.

    Double pedals are the ones where there is a bottom note above - Double pedal D / E
    Pedal E to F below
    Bottom E to F below (bottom C being the note described as middle C on a piano score)
    Middle E to F below
    Top E to F below

    Notes above top E deemed “super notes”. Like so many things, needlessly overused in order to impress the hard of thinking or bereft of taste.

    Opinion is bitterly divided over whether top E should be renamed super E.
    Nowt

    Retired

  6. I live in a treble world. Everything relates to the staff. Above the staff is high whatever and then doubles etc. Below the staff is the named note. Anything below F# is a pedal. Simple but even with that trumpet players so like to brag that it all get's screwy when talking about double and triple this or that.
    Richard


    King 1130 Flugabone
    King 2280 Euphonium
    King 10J Tuba
    Conn 22B Trumpet

  7. #7
    If there were a “lingua franca” for note naming, it would have to be the naming convention for the 88 key piano keyboard. One need only remember that C on the ledger line between the bass and treble staff, also known as “middle C”, is C4. Well, there is one other thing to remember... the order of names starts with C, not A. The order is: “C D E F G A B”.

    Alternatively, most players can play a 4 octave set of B flats. Those notes are Bb1 to Bb4; not too hard to remember as a reference, and still only two things to remember.

    I see this notation frequently because I work with a tuner and tone generator as part of my daily routine and it uses this convention.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Location
    SW WA, USA
    Posts
    9
    What a great question!

    I like carbogast's solution of identifying the four Bb most can play as a way to name which particular Bb is being played.

    Back in the deep dim recesses of my brain I thought I knew that Yamaha and (somebody) refer to middle C as C3 rather than C4. Maybe this just applies to keyboards/MIDI applications, but still. The wikipedia article on Scientific Pitch Notation includes perhaps more info than the OP wants, but also does have a diagram of a piano keyboard with the C0 - C8 zones identified.

  9. #9
    The latest (Fall 2020) ITEA Journal has a pitch notation guide on page 10, using yet another scheme. It uses superscripts, which makes it difficult to show exactly; where you see a number in the mapping below, assume it's a superscript. Here is the mapping from the piano scheme:

    C0 - B0 : CCC - BBB
    C1 - B1 : CC - BB
    C2 - B2 : C - B
    C3 - B3 : c - b
    C4 - B4 : c1 - b1
    C5 - B5 : c2 - b2
    Last edited by carbogast; 12-16-2020 at 11:32 AM. Reason: typo

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by carbogast View Post
    The latest (Fall 2020) ITEA Journal has a pitch notation guide on page 10, using yet another scheme. It uses superscripts, which makes it difficult to show exactly; where you see a number in the mapping below, assume it's a superscript. Here is the mapping from the piano scheme:

    C0 - B0 : CCC - BBB
    C1 - B1 : CC - BB
    C2 - B2 : C - B
    C3 - B3 : c - b
    C4 - B4 : c1 - b1
    C5 - B5 : c2 - b2
    The problem is that’s completely meaningless to us treblers. Everyone knows what pedal C, or it’s BC Bb equivalent is. Therefore it’s easy to extrapolate.
    Nowt

    Retired

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