Middle C

Middle C

In Western music, the expression "Middle C" refers to the note "C" located exactly between the two staves of the grand staff. This note resonates at a frequency of 261.626 hertz, and is near the top of the bass vocal range and near the bottom of the Soprano range.cite book
title= Harvard Dictionary of Music: Second Edition
last= Apel
first= Willi
year= 1968
publisher= Belknap Press
isbn= 978-0674375017
] The note is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation (also known as note-octave notation), so named because of the note's position as the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard. While other pitch notation systems (including those used by some manufacturers of digital music keyboards) may refer to "Middle C" with a different designation, the C4 designation is the most commonly recognized in auditory science and most frequently used in musical studies.

While the expression "Middle C" is generally clear across instruments and clefs, some musicians tend to use the term to refer to the C note in the middle of their specific instrument's range. For example, C4 may be called "Low C" by someone playing a Western concert flute (which has a higher and narrower playing range than a piano), while C5 (523.251 Hz) would be "Middle C". This technically inaccurate practice has led some pedagogues to encourage standardizing on C4 as the definitive "Middle C" in instructional materials across all instruments.cite journal
last=Large
first= John
year= 1981
month= February
title= Theory in Practice: Building a Firm Foundation
journal= Music Educators Journal
volume= 32
pages= 30–35
]

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References

ee also

* Scientific_pitch_notation#Table_of_note_frequencies


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  • Middle — Mid dle, n. [AS. middel. See {Middle}, a.] The point or part equally distant from the extremities or exterior limits, as of a line, a surface, or a solid; an intervening point or part in space, time, or order of series; the midst; central… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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