Naming of notes in choral music?
I've got to grips with Scientific Pitch Notation (e.g middle C is C4) but in a choral setting I am often confused because there seems to be a whole nomenclature where certain notes have specific names.
For instance "tenor high C" is C5, one octave above middle C. I've heard others mentioned but cannot remember their names and don't know what octaves they're in. Commonly someone will say "it's a D" and everyone else seems to know which D except me! And it seems to confuse everyone when I say "do you mean D4 or D5", or "an octave and a half below middle C"... which I guess is why those reference notes have names.
What are the names and pitches of the notes named for vocalists? Does this group of notes have a name in itself?
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You have to take the context into account. Look, when cellists talk to each other about "the open C", they don't mean the same thing as the violists, because the cello's open C is an octave lower than the viola's open C.
The first thing that can be confusing is that men's parts are often written in treble clef, but sounding an octave lower. That is, a written middle C (C4) actually indicates a C3. Properly notated, the treble clef should have a little "8" attached to the bottom (as seen here), but this is often left off and the octave shift is simply implied.
Commonly someone will say "it's a D" and everyone else seems to know which D except me!
The context should help. If I'm asking about the range of a song for a male voice and they say, "yeah, it's really low, down to a D" then they must mean D2. If they say, "it's really high, up to a D" then they must mean D5.
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