Octaves and note names

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Pitch and register

Note names repeat across registers. The distance to the next note with the same name is an octave. A note name alone may therefore be ambiguous.

When checking a MIDI transfer, compare note numbers as well as octave labels. MusicianCV labels MIDI note 60 as C4; another application may use a different octave-label convention.

Example

Moving note 60 to 72 raises it by twelve semitones: one octave.

Try it

What is the MIDI number one octave below 67?

Related topics

References

Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom

Subject-expert review pending.