Naming Pitches

Melody: Part 1

Here’s the melody we want to understand.

A big part of what makes a melody memorable is the set of relationships shared by its elements. Understanding these relationships gives us a better understanding of the melody itself.

In order to get there, it would be helpful to identify all the elements. To keep track of what we identify, names are indispensable. Autocratic surveillance governments will agree with me on this one.

The Experience of Pitch

Let’s start simple. Here’s a sound. Let’s name this sound T:

Here’s a different sound. We’ll call this U:

I hope you can agree with me that these sounds are different from one another. What makes them different? Pitch.

Here are T and U one after the other (melody):

And here they are simultaneously (harmony):

What about two sounds that share the same pitch? Here’s how one U followed by another U would sound:

Identical.

Names Clarify Relationships

It’s safe to conclude that T and U have different pitches. Is it also possible to rank these pitches? Would it make sense to ask if U’s pitch is more or less than T’s pitch?

The short answer is yes. A longer answer is yes, certainly.

We’ll save the nuts and bolts of how that is done for another time. For now, all we need to know is that when people name pitches, those names are (almost always) based on an inherent ordering or ranking scheme. In some naming systems, the names even hint at the relationships between pitches.

A Rose By Any Other Name

Here’s one way to give names to our 2 pitches: The pitch of T is A5. The pitch of U is C#6 (pronounced C sharp six). In many contexts, we could simply call them A and C#. This is the system used largely in Eurocentric (Western) music.

Another set of names for T and U would be Sa and Ga respectively. That’s another common (and personally, less scary-looking) way of labelling them that is used mostly in the Indian subcontinent. There are other ways as well, and they each have their purpose.

Same sounds, different names

At the end of the day, they’re just names, like T, U, and the names you and your work-friends use on WhatsApp when pitching about your colleagues. Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.

Next → Part 2: Relating Pitches

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