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20240901115917-Locating_C_Piano_Key

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Locating C Piano Key

From “Locating C¨ in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers

The pitch C will always be the white key to the left of a group of two black keys. […] No matter what kind of keyboard you are looking at it, or what kind of sequencer, the location of C will always be the same. The only difference is that when we look at our Piano Roll Editor, the C is under the group of two black notes (remember that left means lower on the piano), because the piano is laid out vertically.

Note

Here, the author, Allen, starts talking of “C¨ from the musical alphabet as a pitch. Before, it was merely a reference to a key from a Western classical piano keyboard. “C¨ in some contexts then refers to the pitch or refers to the key.

Eureka

Nonetheless, one ties the pitch to the key for ease in conveying that pitch. More accurately, “C¨ then refers to the expected pitch of a key labeled such. “C¨ is a relationship between a key and a pitch, rather than merely one thing or the other.

Reference image:

Once you know how to locate C, you are then able to find middle C:

20240901142025-Middle_C

Middle C

From “Middle C¨ in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers

In addition to the letter name C, there is a number. That number indications[sic] which C we are looking at. On a keyboard (depending on the size of the keyboard), we might have six or seven different C keys. […] Middle C is the C key that is right in the middle of the keyboard. Technically speaking, middle C is C4.

Simply spoken, conventionally, middle C is C4. To know how to find C more generally, refer to 20240901115917-Locating_C_Piano_Key.

Caution

There can be “some confusion¨ in finding C4 as smaller keyboards wherein the musical alphabet and its accidentals repeat only once or twice can have buttons that allow us to shift the auditory frequencies produced by those keys down or up (Allen 2018, 31). (However typically the default has C4 as the either at the beginning or start of that small keyboard.) Furthermore, confusion is exacerbated by “synthesizer manufacturers about middle C¨ as some “label middle C as C3¨ (Ibid).

Reference image:

music music_theory Western piano classical C4 middle_C C3 musical_alphabet

bibliography

  • “Middle C.” In Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers: The Producer’s Guide to Harmony, Chord Progressions, and Song Structure in the MIDI Grid., 1st ed., 31. Minneapolis, MN: Slam Academy, 2018.
Link to original

pitch music music_theory piano_roll_editor musical_alphabet key keys C

bibliography

  • “Locating C.” In Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers: The Producer’s Guide to Harmony, Chord Progressions, and Song Structure in the MIDI Grid., 1st ed., 30. Minneapolis, MN: Slam Academy, 2018.

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