Beginners Guide To Western Musical Notes And Their Major Types

Western Musical Notes types start from C to B with five sharps and flats in between. In Romance languages, they are denoted from Do to Si.

The notes are C, C sharp/D flat, D, D sharp/E flat, E, F, F sharp/G flat, G, G sharp/A flat, A, A sharp/B flat, and B. The romance language equivalents for these notes are: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, with diesis and bemolle denoting sharps and flats respectively.

Here are the 12 notes in details.

1. C Note

The chromatic scale begins with the C note which is the first note on the C major scale. The C major scale is the most common in Western music. 

However, it is the third in the A minor scale, which is the minor version of the C major scale, and the fourth in the Guidonian hand, which begins with G. As for its relation to Do

The C note is the same in other forms of musical notations like German, Swedish, and Dutch, but is known as do in the Romance languages. Due to its first nature, all musical notations begin with C.

Aside from the major scale, other scales that begin with C are the C natural minor, C harmonic minor, and C melodic minor ascending and descending.

2. C Sharp/D Flat Note

The C sharp and D flat notes are enharmonic notes that come after C. As such, they sound the same but with different denominations.

To go deeper, the two are played with the same key on a piano but the sound is just a tiny bit different when used in instrumentation. The reason why is that they are pulled in different ways, but the difference is too minimal to make a big note of it. 

The two notes are a half step or semitone above C and below D, meaning that the two are adjacent to C and D. Despite essentially being the same note, they have different scales where they begin.

The notes each begin in their own common scales which are major, natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor ascending and descending.

3. D Note

The D musical note is the second note a whole tone above C. However, it is the third note in the overall scale.

D is enharmonic with C double sharp and E double flat. Unlike the previous notation, it is still commonly known as D in both layman’s terms and official notation.

Despite following C, D has twice as many common scales that begin with it. Those scales are major, harmonic major, melodic major ascending and descending, natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor ascending and descending.

Since C was do on the Romance language scale, D is denoted as re as it follows C. Like C, it is also played by the white key on the piano.

4. D Sharp/E Flat Note

D sharp and E flat are enharmonic notes that come after D. The notes are a semitone above D and below E. 

Unlike C sharp and D flat, these two musical notes are not perfectly enharmonic because they have larger differences, though still subtle. The reason is that while E flat is above B flat at a perfect fourth, D sharp is only a major third above B.

As with every sharp and flat note, they have different denominations in various other Western languages. In German and Dutch, the sharp is “is” and the flat is “es,” in Swedish, the sharp is “iss” and the flat is “ess,” and in the Romance languages, the sharp is “diesis” and the flat is “bemolle.”

Like every other note, they two have common scales that begin with them like the major, natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor ascending and descending.

5. E Note

The E musical note is the third musical note and comes after D. However, it is the fifth note in the overall scale, and mi in the Romance languages.

The E note also has an enharmonic equivalent in the form of an F flat. As such, the E note is a semitone above E flat and D double sharp.

As with the other scales on this list, it also is the beginning of the common scales major, natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor ascending and descending. 

A fun fact about the E note is that while it is enharmonic to F flat, the note is not regarded as the same. When an F flat is written in the notation, it is seen as a key signature like the rest of the flats and sharps.

6. F Note

The F Note is the fourth musical note and sixth overall in the scale. F is denoted as fa in the romance languages scale.

As with the E note, the F note also has an enharmonic equivalent, two in fact, in the form of E sharp and G double flat. The same common scales that E begins with also have F as their beginning scale i.e. major, natural minor, etc.

F’s enharmonic equivalent, E sharp, is also regarded as a completely different note when used and is also a key signature. A further note about E sharp, it is denoted as a different pitch when tuned, even though in any 12-tone temperament, they sound the same.

7. F Sharp/G Flat Note

The F sharp and G Sharp notes are the seventh overall note in the 12-tone scale. Given that they are sharp and flat, the two are enharmonic notes.

The two notes land a semitone above F and below G, but despite being enharmonic, they each have subtle differences in that F sharp is a major third above D, while G flat is a major third above B flat.

F sharp also has another enharmonic note in the form of E double sharp, while G flat does not have any other enharmonic notes. Despite this subtle difference, the two have the same pitch.

The two notes also share the same scale where they’re used as the beginning scale in the major, harmonic minor, natural minor, and melodic minor ascending and descending.

8. G Note

The G Note is the eighth note in the overall scale and five whole tones above C. Due to this, it is a perfect fifth above C.

G is also a perfect fourth below the last C, which is usually in the succeeding octave. The enharmonic equivalents of G are F double sharp and A double flat.

The G note might also be the most popular single note on this page due to its usage in the popular emo band, My Chemical Romance’s 2006 song, Welcome to the Black Parade. The song might just be the band’s most famous song.

Not only is the G note the first note played in the song, but the note itself has since become something of a meme among fans and elsewhere on the internet as a way to signify the nostalgia many fans felt when the famous band broke up. 

9. G Sharp/A Flat Note

The G Sharp and A Flat notes are enharmonic notes at the ninth position in the scale. The two notes are perfect enharmonic notes.

The notes are called so because not only do the two have only each other as enharmonic equivalents, but also because they don’t have any other way they can be reached via single or double flats or sharps from any of the white scales.

However, despite being perfect enharmonic notes, they have a tiny variation not in terms of playing but in terms of tuning because some musical tunings will show the A flat sounding a slightly different pitch than the G sharp. 

Still, both of them have approximately 413.305 hz pitch if measured in the reference of the middle C. The two also have the same common scales as the rest that use them as the beginning scale.

10. A Note

The A note is the sixth major note and the tenth overall note on the scale. The note is denoted as la in the Romance languages.

When it comes to enharmonic notes, A has two in the form of B double flat, which is a semitone above A flat, and G double sharp, which is a semitone below the A sharp. It is also used as a standard for tuning especially when it comes to the oboe and every string instrument used in the orchestra.

The A musical note is also the first and lowest note on a standard piano, which is denoted as A0.

Due to this nature of the note, the International Standards Organization standardized pitch of 440 for the note’s tuning has not only varied over time but also amongst geographical regions, and even when it comes to instrument makers the tuning is able to fall anywhere between 309 and 455.3 Hz.

11. A Sharp/B Flat Note

The A sharp and B flat enharmonic notes fall at the eleventh on the scale. The highest amongst the sharps and flats on the scale.

The two are a semitone above A and a semitone below B, but like most sharps/flats on the notational scale, they can sound different in some musical tunings. The B flat especially sounds a bit different due to it being enharmonic with C double flat too. 

The B flat note in particular has a strange usage in the orchestra in relation to the brass instruments. What this means is that when the orchestra tunes to an A as provided by the oboe, the brass instruments like tuba, horn, and clarinet tune to a B flat.

The B flat note also has a different notation in Germany, Russia, Poland, and all of Scandinavia, where it is called simply B, with the B note being called H.

12. B Note

The B note is the seventh note and the twelfth semitone on the chromatic scale. B is the highest note in any given octave.

As stated above, the B note is called the H note in some European regions, and si or ti in the Romance languages. The note’s enharmonic equivalents come in the form of C flat and A double sharp. 

Aside from the European countries in the previous note, the B note’s designation also differs in other Western countries like the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, and Ireland, where B is a semitone below the C note of the next octave, with the B flat being a whole tone below C.

However, despite these confusions, the musical note still begins in the same common scales as the rest of the notes barring one on this list. 

Western Music and Non-Western Music notes differ in terms of tuning, tonality, and meter. The former has a strict form while the latter has more freedom. 

However, these differences are much more intricate than the general way it has been described above. Still, it’s important to note that this generalization is a great way to start to learn more about the differences.

The best way to understand the major difference between Western music and its equivalents in many non-Western cultures is the fact that music was and remains improvisational in many Non-Western areas and cultures in the world.

For example, the broad Indian music tradition has a similarity to the seven whole tones of the chromatic scale. For example, the broad notes in Indian music are Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni which correspond with C, D, E, F, G, A, and B or Do, Re Mi, Fa, So, La, and Si.

However, there are two different traditions in Indian Classical music that are differentiated the North Indian or Hindustani tradition, and the South Indian or Carnatic Expression. As such, each has a different way of calculating what the West believes to be Sharps and Flats. 

So, there is music between the tones that Western Music cannot reach precisely due to the way Indian music is structured. Called micro-tones, they can be understood as raga, which is the melodic framework of much of the improvisation in the classical music of India.

And this is only speaking of India, there are a variety of music traditions all over the East that not only differ from the West but differ wildly from each other. There is a world of difference between the music tradition in India and its subsequent notes, and the music tradition of the middle east or Japan and Korea. 

Western Musical Notes are visual representations of how music is aurally perceived. The note types are separate from the music notes described above.

There are nine musical note types in this chart and they are:

• double note
• whole note
• half note
• quarter note
• eighth note
• sixteenth note
• thirty-second note
• sixty-fourth note, and
• hundred twenty-eighth note

1. Double Note

The double note is also called the double whole note or breve. The note lasts twice as long as a whole note.

The note is also the second longest value that is still used in modern music notation but is rarely encountered. In the written form, the breve is denoted by a hollow oval with two vertical lines on either side of it. 

2. Whole Note

The whole note is also called the semi-breve in British English. The note has a value of four beats.

As such, the note is played by counting to four while holding the note. As it is half of a breve, it is denoted with just a hollow oval, without the lines.

The whole note also has a related symbol called the whole rest which is drawn as a filled-in rectangle directly under the second line. 

3. Half Note

The half note is also called the minim by the British and has a value of two beats.

The half note has two different symbols to denote it. The first is an oval with a diagonal hollow with a straight line, or stem, facing upwards on its right side. The oval is split by the fourth line.

The second is also an oval with a diagonal hollow, but with a straight line of stem on its left side. The oval sits between the second and third lines.

4. Quarter Note

The quarter note is a musical note that is also called crochet. The note has a value of one beat. 

Qurter note has the most recognized symbol amongst all of the note types, which is a filled-in oval positioned diagonally either split by the fourth line or in the middle of the second and third lines.

The former has a stem pointing upwards on the right, and the latter has a stem pointing downwards on the left. 

5. Eighth Note

The eighth note is a musical note also called a quaver. Given its name, it is one-eighth of a semibreve with the value of half a beat.

The notation symbol of the quaver is also very recognizable as it features the same sort of filled-in oval as the previous note and stem, but with a curve or flag either coming down or going up. However, when four eighth notes are lined up they beam together.

6. Sixteenth Note

The sixteenth note is also called a semi-quaver as it is half as long as an eighth note. 

The musical symbol for the sixteenth note is the same as the quaver, except that there is an additional flag under the first one. Also, the two flags beam with the others when lined up together in fours.

7. Thirty-Second Note

The thirty-second note is also called a demisemiquaver and lasts half as long as a semi-quaver.

It continues the musical stylings of its previous two notation types as its symbols are the same but with a third flag under the above two. These flags also band together in groups of four.

8. Sixty-Fourth Note

The sixty-fourth note is called a hemidemisemiquaver or a semidemisemiquaver. The note is also sometimes called a half-thirty-second note.

This note has four flags as its musical symbol alongside the oval and stem that is identical to the previous quavers. Like other notes in the quaver family, the flags beam together, not only in groups of four but more.

9. Hundred Twenty-Eighth Note

The hundred twenty-eighth note is also called the semihemidemisemiquaver or the quasihemidemisemiquaver.

It is extremely rare, and its musical symbols have the same as other quavers but with five flags that beam together in groups of four.