1/31/2024 0 Comments Music notesBut even though consonance can be interpreted as random, it’s so evident that it would be silly to try to justify it. Understanding where consonance comes from would require a severe examination of human psychology. Consonant notes are notes with a harmonious relationship between frequencies. The whole point of these 12 notes is to ensure musical intervals played in an instrument can be as consonant as possible. The 12 musical notes used in western music were created arbitrarily to privilege musical intervals. Why are there 12 musical notes in western music? So, if one can divide the pitch spectrum by a virtually infinite number of musical notes, why are there only 12 in western music? The simple answer is: because of the musical intervals. Fundamentally, all versions of “Happy Birthday” are the same regardless of the key because they have the same succession of intervals. While “Happy Birthday” played in the key of C sounds different from “Happy Birthday” played in the key of A, the difference between the two versions is so slight and unnoticeable that’s practically irrelevant. Even though the notes are different, a C-to-G progression sounds almost exactly the same as an A-to-E progression. A C followed by a G is a perfect 5th just like an A followed by an E is a perfect 5th. Instead, it’s the relationship between them, known as a musical interval. This is possible because what makes music is not the musical notes that are being played. Some believe that music tuned to 432Hz sounds better than music tuned to 440Hz, even though both feature the same 12 musical notes (though many of the reasons are somewhat questionable, as you can read in this article). You can play a song in the key of A just as effectively using alternative tuning systems. Does this mean that an A must vibrate at precisely 440Hz to be an A? Not at all. In western music, the note A (for example) vibrates at 440Hz. Musical notes are defined by their frequency, which is the number of times their wave vibrates per second (measured in hertz). Pitch is a spectrum, and musical notes are nothing but points in the spectrum that were highlighted for practical reasons. The guitar fret wires represent specific musical notes (as in a piano) but guitarists can play an endless number of other notes. The best way to understand how pitch works is to think of the strings of a guitar. To understand how and why most music is still based on just 12 unique pitches, you must first learn how pitch works. But, there’s a virtually infinite number of other possible notes. So, how many musical notes do exist? Well, the short answer is 12. Music that uses notes outside the traditional 12-note system is known as microtonal music. Gamelan music from Indonesia, on the other hand, relies on scales that use musical notes different from the 12 notes of western music. In Hindustani Classical Music, for example, non-western musical notes such as the C half-sharp (a note in-between C and C#) are extremely prevalent. But that doesn’t mean all music is made with just 12 notes. Pretty much all songs you know and love rely solely on these 12 musical notes. The lowest C sounds very different from the highest C, but the musical note both keys represent is the same. In an instrument like an 88-key piano, these 12 unique pitches are repeated seven times, going from low to high. The 12 musical notes in western music are C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, and B. The vast majority of pop-rock music is based on these 12 fundamental pitches however, it’s possible to play many other musical notes. Although musical instruments such as the piano have more than 12 keys, these only represent 12 unique pitches. There are 12 different musical notes in western music.
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