Why are the white notes C major not A major?

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Most musicians know that we can play a major scale just using the white notes of the piano and that scale is "C major". C major is treated like the "default scale", it has no flats or sharps, just white notes. But why "C"? Would it not make more sense for this "default" scale to start on A, just like the alphabet?
Here's my video on the "German H": • Why does Germany have ...
and my video on Do-re-mi: • Most countries don't u...
SOURCES:
LivingPianosVideos, Why is C not Called A?:
• Music Theory Questions...
MusicCorner, Why C?: The Convoluted History of Note Names: • Why C?: The Convoluted...
Two Minute Music Theory, Why C Major Has No Sharps or Flats: Why C Major Has No Sharps or Flats
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical...
Early Music Sources - Gregorian Chant: • Gregorian chant
Early Music Sources - Solmization: • Solmization and the Gu...
Early Music Sources - Modes: • Modes in the 16th and ...
Odd Quartet - The Origins of Music - The Story of Guido: • The Origins of Music -...
12tone, why do notes have names? • Why Do Notes Have Names?
• Ancient Music Genres E...
Translation of Boethius’ De institutione musica: classicalliberalarts.com/wp-c...
HistoryOfMusicTheory - Hexachords: historyofmusictheory.wordpres...
And, an extra special thanks goes to Peter Keller, Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇
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0:00 Why C major, not A major?
1:30 the Diatonic scale
3:25 Latin alphabet for note names
5:30 Where are the black notes?
6:27 Why C major, not A major?
6:48 my PIANO course with ArtMaster
7:45 What about Do-re-mi?
10:07 Outro

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Try out my piano courses with a free trial at ArtMaster: www.artmaster.com/course/piano-2?Cmajor 🎹🎹😁😁🎼🎼

[@R.Akerman-oz1tf]

My forever though has been; Keeping the presently accepted tones(C Major scale) why in the world didn't They name it A Major. Maybe they just loved the "relative minor", which I believe belongs to "C".

[@alnitaka]

Using C as the default scale reminds me of computers. The main hard drive of your system is not A:\, it is C:\. Why? Because A:\ was used earlier for floppy drives, which were still in use when hard drives came out, and since B:\ was also a floppy drive, C:\ became the default hard drive of your computer.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Nice comparison!

[@andersjjensen]

The default name for a computer running DOS, that is. Other, earlier, OSes got around this pitfall because they had made the exact same mistake with serial ports.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@andersjjensenpretty sure it would’ve been an issue on CP/M as well, which DOS just lifted the drive naming scheme from. Though hard drives weren’t very common when CP/M was the hotness (and in fact having 4 floppy drives wasn’t unheard of back then, given they were lower capacity).

[@Allen2]

Early PCs (like the ITT Xtra) didn't have a hard drive; just A:\ for DOS and your program disk, and B:\ for your data disk. C:\ was then used for the hard disk drive where DOS and programs were stored; you wouldn't always keep your data there because the PC was shared with many co-workers who could see it or mess with it.

[@Cherodar]

I've always thought of those as similar too! And really, they are similar--in both cases, the focus on C came about much later, by complete unforeseeable coincidence (by the obsolescence of floppy disks in the computer's case, and by the ascendancy of the major scale in music's case).

[@fromchomleystreet]

Fun fact: that optional extra low G below the A at 5:11 was called “gamma ut” - gamma being the Greek word for G, and the solfege name “ut” (precursor of “do”, as David explains later) signifying it was the lowest note of a given scale - which gives us our modern word “gamut” meaning the maximum possible range of something.

[@edwardblair4096]

He probably explains it in the other video, but Gamma UT is the G that is the bottom line of the bass clef. The gamut extends all the way up two octaves and a 6th to the E that is the top space of the treble clef.

[@dabidibup]

As a guitarist I appreciate F being the hardest chord

[@JA-ut8fi]

Play F to pay respects

[@KrwiomoczBogurodzicy]

A# major. Root on the 1nd fret of A-string. Similarly B major on the 2nd fret. It's killing me to this day. Beautiful use/example of the chord: [ kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4Gaq6qYZ5WkrMk ] This Polish band often uses interesting chords. Notably: [ kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnfRoWiqo7-egMk ] [ kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpuWdaCpbrVgsNU ]

[@JA-ut8fi]

@@KrwiomoczBogurodzicytry playing it with an open G shape

[@LouieShowers]

​@@KrwiomoczBogurodzicyjust play moveable major bar chord shape on the 6th fret

[@b00ts4ndc4ts]

​@@JA-ut8fitry 3rd finger 3rd fret on the bottom E string, 2nd finger 2nd fret A string, 4th finger 3rd fret top E string then it frees up your 1st finger to move on to the F. Practice moving from open C to G then F.

[@sp00ky_guy]

I don't know about everyone else, but I'd love to see more history themed videos like this! I love all your content, but this scratches an itch for me that I didn't know needed scratching.

[@barbaramilone2800]

That's a great way to put it -- I agree!

[@R.Akerman-oz1tf]

I've seen similar snippets of history. David has finally answered My question of Why CMaj is actually named (CMaj) .

[@emcarnahan]

Me too!

[@Fire_Axus]

your feelings would be irrational

[@sp00ky_guy]

@@Fire_Axus all feelings are irrational

[@jonadabtheunsightly]

The sharp/flat note keys were added when they started making instruments that were a pain to re-tune between performances (like you would do with e.g. a harp) but also too bulky to swap out for a different instrument (like you would do with a flute). The pipe organ is the poster child for this: changing its intonation would take several hours of swapping out pipes (some of which are larger than a man), and swapping it out for a different organ entirely would mean moving the concert to a different venue. So you just build the organ with pipes for every note you're ever going to need. It's *easier* that way. This is also where well and eventually equal temperament came from: the ancient Greeks used just intonation, exclusively, but that's not practicable for a pipe organ, and it's not extremely convenient for a harpsichord or piano either. These days we used A440 TTET even for a lot of _electronic_ instruments, despite the fact that it would not be difficult to set them up with a whole library of intonations and switch between them at the push of a button. We don't try to do that because A) they're often playing alongside traditional instruments, and B) most musicians have never studied how to write key changes involving a shift from one just intonation to another.

[@jonadabtheunsightly]

@@topherthe11th23 I didn't say the black *notes* were added. The underlying math hasn't changed, obviously. I said the *keys* for them were added, to instruments. Ancient instruments didn't have all twelve notes, not at the same time. (Heck, instruments that only had five notes were common in the ancient world.) If somebody wanted a given note to be sharp, they would tune it up, or if they wanted it to be flat, they would tune it down. Remember, the ancient Greeks used just intonation exclusively (and the Romans copied their system), so their instruments were always tuned for a specific key anyway. Well temperament was invented during the middle ages as a way of allowing an instrument to play in multiple keys without being retuned, which was a new idea at the time. The twelve-tone equal temperament that we know today evolved from that.

[@kaitlyn__L]

When I was younger I thought starting on wind instruments was a curse, because piano knowledge was required for so many music programmes. But now I’m glad I did - because I do have an intuitive sense for at least the difference between Bb and Eb tuned instruments if not literally every tuning possible. And to be honest 12TET does sometimes sound a bit weird to me. I’d often try to play what would be “C half flat” on guitar for instance, getting the ire of my teacher because I wasn’t centring my finger on the fret. But neither B nor C sounded quite right for me in some pieces! However, a few alternate TET tunings with more notes in the octave (19 and 24 IIRC) get much closer to how my ear likes.

[@gcewing]

Having different organs tuned to different keys would be interesting. Imagine playing a piece with modulation... the organist plays a few bars and then says "All right, everyone, please come with me over to St. Pancreas's for the next part..."

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@gcewing now I’m kinda wondering if very subtle length-altering switches, or banks of different pipes in those ridiculously huge organs with tons of “voices”, might’ve been a possibility. Would’ve been exceedingly rare, given most would rather have a bank of, say, reed pipes installed than merely a different temperament, but… technically viable? Of course 12TET had already become the norm long before steam-powered pipe organs started proliferating, so there was no real pressure to even consider it.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

Most modern digital organs have options to select from a half-dozen or more different tuning systems such as Kirnberger 3, Werckmeister 3, Just Intonation, Young II, Pythagorean, etc.

[@VexylObby]

A bunch of us teachers deep dived this a couple years ago when we had too many students ask us the same question we wondered ourselves. Our short answer became: 1)The musical alphabet came first, where A was the “start”. 2)Then the instruments we put the alphabet onto came after. 3)Singers of a different culture ended up singing in the key of C Major. 4)The piano key layout was created after the need to make multiple keys of any common scale available, making the black keys necessary. Our shortER answer: Traditions Personally, I like to call the piano the “minor” instrument. But I know Aeolian was not meant to be the default scale just like Ionian was not.

[@Shred_Rocket]

Why was I not taught this when I was in school? Something like this would have been a light bulb moment for me to grasp the fundamentals fully. Good stuff here, thank you!

[@alexandrehuot3326]

As someone from Québec... I always appreciate it when people take the time to distinguish us from the rest of North America on their maps! Cheers :)

[@craia25]

3:20 Proslambanomenos (Προσλαμβάνομενος) is a term from ancient Greek philosophy and especially from Aristotelian logic. It comes from ancient Greek and means "that which is taken up" or "that which is accepted". In Aristotelian logic, "proslambanomenos" refers to accepting or presupposing a particular statement as true in order to continue an argument. It is a key concept related to the structure of syllogisms and arguments. 🎶🎻

[@maxwellphillips5791]

One of the best music channels on KZbin. Your creativity in thinking of interesting topics to cover reminds me of two set violin. Not necessarily in the subject matter, but the consistency of innovative content.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you!

[@THEAMYGDALA]

I’m thinking about this question since 40 yrs. Thanks for that.😊

[@DavidBennettPiano]

you're welcome!

[@MatrixEvolution17]

when I was younger, for a long period of time I actually did think the white notes started with A. So I was accidentally playing songs in the wrong key completely. I felt so stupid when I realised I was playing it all wrong 🤦

[@renny1712]

😂

[@claudelamoreux8543]

Unless it's jazz. There are no wrong notes in jazz.

[@andersjjensen]

@@claudelamoreux8543 As a rock head I'd say there are ONLY wrong notes in jazz! :P

[@Papyrusans]

I'm really loving these music history videos! Do you think you could do a video on the history of modes? Like how modes were invented and how modes like Ionian, Aeolian, etc. got their names? I'd love to learn about it! 💖

[@StevenChalem]

Your videos explaining the history and reasoning behind musical conventions are very enjoyable and also quite helpful in firming up my knowledge of the basics. I’ve found that I learn things best when I approach them from multiple perspectives. This perspective on how scales evolved is a great addition to the many ways of thinking about scales

[@clintonwilcox4690]

Boethius was quite a philosopher in his own right. The Consolation of Philosophy is a must-read for anyone interested in medieval philosophy. I'm surprised to see he wrote a treatise on music, too. I'll have to pick that one up. I went to college for a degree in music education and while we learned music history, it was primarily the history of classical music, essentially from the Renaissance period on. I'm enjoying these videos which show the more ancient history of how modern music came to be. I look forward to seeing more.

[@kaitlyn__L]

I suppose he was just following in the tradition set by Plato, of philosophers philosophising on the reasons we like music and trying to systematise that understanding

[@katkong281]

If you use A as the starting note, the intervals B to C (a semitone) and E to F (a semitone) make the 12 note chromatic system symmetrical in terms of the intervals

[@TotalDec]

I noticed that, too. I disagree with this video. To my hearing, C Maj. sounds the most generic, and the modes sound the most generic adhering to the white keys. I have always been taught that piano was designed purposefully, with C being the center of our frequency perception, and the Fibonacci Sequence being the inspiration of the layout. Essentially he said, C Maj. wasn't designed in the layout. Clearly, it is. He didn't answer the question. He didn't exactly support his reasoning, either. I am a piano teacher. I knew all this before I clicked. It seems like people just like this guy, and agree cos they never thought it out. He's a good player, and a good guy. But, he got his premise wrong. We tune by A, I guess, cos it's easy to remember A being the first letter; And, it's easier to remember making a pitch a whole number freq. We read about music theory beginning without chromaticism (he did a decent job of explaining), but that doesn't mean when piano was invented they didn't primarily use C Maj. I always read (26 years ago), the black keys represented the addition to C Maj. That makes sense, and is beyond the question, anyway. Music theory hasn't changed much since the piano was invented, so we think of C Maj. being represented by the keys. He said, The reason the white notes are the C Maj. scale not A Maj. is cos the piano wasn't made to reflect The Major Scale. He also said the black keys were added in. Well, the black keys are the opposite, giving The Minor Scale. It's not random. It's 2 black, 3 black, 5 black, 8 white. That's the Fibonacci Sequence set to C. That's conscious/deliberate design. His explanation makes a little more sense, if you don't think churches were the main places you'd see and hear a piano. But, he even said C Maj. became the system used. I understand he's saying we eventually landed on the name C Maj. being associated with the white keys. My point, is that C is the freq. that is the middle one to our ears, and The Maj. Scale is what the layout was designed to. It's even in the way art is represented. Horror movies have more black. Super heroes wear more white than black. The keyboard layout was a natural progression.

[@TotalDec]

Why are the white keys C Maj. not A Maj.? Cos, A wasn't the central note of human hearing and C is. I'm still not clear on who chose the naming of pitches.

[@2eanimation]

@@TotalDec Back in the days A4 was not always 440Hz, hence "C" could have been anything but what frequency we refer to as C, which also means that the whole scale(C or whatever) was higher/lower pitched than what we're used to. For me, C is just one of the 12 Major scales with a specific root frequency. Which of the 12 I chose as "the center" depends on what song I've played before/how I want to modulate and what note should be the lowest/how high or low pitched I want the whole song to be(either a matter of taste or, if I comp a singer, based on their vocal range). Also, of all instruments, the piano(or better, the key-layout) is rather modern. It just happens to be(due to how the instrument/music evolved) that C major is the white notes. The whole layout could have been different. Look at the Janko piano, where all keys are equally spaced/ordered. If the keys weren't colored, there would be no distinction between C major and any other scale on a Janko. Edit: The Fibonacci sequence has nothing to do with the starting letter for the "white notes major scale". It would have popped up if the white notes were A major or whatever, as can be seen in the videos take at an A major-centered key layout. I've got the chance to play on some old organs, some of which had 7 dark and 5 light keys(colors switched), so your black bad/white good take is questionable. On a harp(which is a significantly older instrument), none of the tones is white, or black, just strings. Last time I checked, my guitar(another instrument older than the piano) wasn't color coded either.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@2eanimationthank you, you put it better than I could have. The idea that C is the “central frequency” our ears simply like and has always been thus is quite strange. Especially since I grew up around old European 435 pianos so 440 pianos sound sharp to me. Doubly especially when you compare how many different tuning theories different cultures have developed. There’s some clever maths behind 12TET tuning to be sure, but it doesn’t come from counting the clustering of the keys.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

​@@TotalDec actually he got it mostly correct -- the 7 natural keys represent all of the half steps and whole steps needed for all 7 modes; the major key is only one of the seven modes. There was a *LOT* of early music being sung and played before there were any keyboard instruments. The first keyboard instruments were organs, and they picked up where the music was when they were developed -- which only needed the natural notes. Remember that the natural notes are a series of half steps AND WHOLE steps -- and that between each whole step there is a "missing" half step. The problem is that there is only one major scale available in the natural keys, so if you want to play a major scale starting on a different note, you have to use some of the missing half steps in order to produce the major scale sequence of half steps and whole steps. Keyboards gradually added the missing half steps in order to play in any key starting on any note.

[@Razorshroud]

You've answered the questions I've had since childhood. Thank you tremendously.

[@mightyal100]

Found this fascinating and, as always, very well explained. Keep these coming David!

[@zzzaphod8507]

Thanks for explaining that. I've been wondering about that for a while!

[@BrakeCoach]

One blessing is that the CDEFGAB lettering puts F as Fa. That helped me remember which goes to which when I had to learn CDEFGAB.

[@benjaminmargulies1853]

only F stands for Fa

[@antoniodigiandomenico4550]

Just bought piano 1&2!! Can’t wait to start the course, this guy is amazing

[@principals16842]

What a good explanation! It is interesting that the history you covered provides the etymology of the word "gamut" from "gamma ut" which is used to describe the compass or range of something (c.f. "run the gamut").

[@jeremiahlyleseditor437]

Absol 'ut' ly great David You go where few try to go. Thank you for this.

[@jadduajones]

Great video! I found myself looking this up the other day as well , what a coincidence!

[@rubydupyII]

As a Dutch person im so happy that we have the note naming system that's easiest to interpret, as the only country on European mainland. Geographically you'd assume we're on team H with Germany

[@Nikhil-gx8cp]

Thank you I've been thinking abt it recently

[@burntsider8457]

Excellent explanation. Superb use of graphics. Well done.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Many thanks!

[@stephenmcg4299]

I love these music history videos. I’m always surprised by all the things I didn’t know (and hadn’t realised I didn’t know).

[@BessieBopOrBach]

Remarkably simple and lucid explanation. Well done!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks 😊

[@aaryanairy756]

Beautifully explained. This video makes me want to learn more about music theory.

[@davefiano4172]

Finally, a good explanation for the various modes!

[@Howto-Ukulelesogehts-ev3rr]

Had to Like that subject before hearing. Just living the question and already got some answers on that. I like to teach musicscale starting with our (German) ABC and the natural minor scale called aeolian. This makes the memorizing much easier as we have use the synergy to our letteralphabet. Most People, may not want to think out of the box in which they were taught. But my students have a large benefit from that, and while writing I heard a bit your teaching and will go right to the start to not miss a word. Thx very much for your subjects ❤🎉😊

[@hermit7903]

I've always wondered about this! This is a great video!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you!

[@brian423]

Thanks again. I am never disappointed by these videos.

[@adb012]

I think you could have immensely simplified the initial question that you tried to clarify in the first 1 minutes 20 seconds of the video by asking "why did we call C C and not A".

[@MusicalRaichu]

I've seen a version of do re mi used for all keys, so like in G major, G would be do, A would be re, etc. The difference is that they have so for sol and ti for si.

[@Syncop8rNZ]

Fascinating and well-presented.

[@EricRosenfield]

You forgot to mention the role of temperament in the development of scales, but I think as an overview this is pretty good.

[@rajthapar]

Very well done with the history, thank you

[@ekoi1995]

I've always thought the basis of the ABCD notation is from the the Aeolian mode because it started with A and having no sharps or flats. This made me think the Aelian mode came first before the Ionian mode. The Ionian mode became popular because it sounded more happier and positive than the sad-sounding Aeolian mode. And music theorists prefer to have a semitone leading to resolve up rather than a flat leading tone which doesn't resolve up. But I think it's all subjective don't you think? Especially of what music theorists think in the past.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

@ekoi1995 -- I think you're for the most part correct. Recall that naming went through a series of adaptations through the years. The bottom line is that there was a "first" or starting note that was called something depending on the culture of the times, , it represented a mode, and eventually that note was dubbed as "A" (followed by "B", "C", "D" etc.) in more modern times.

[@tessjuel]

The major/minor (or ionian/aeolian if you like) modes didn't really become dominant until around 1600 - give or take a few decades. At that time musicians had already started using chromatic notes to add strong lead notes to all the modes. The ionian mode doesn't need such an alteration and that may be why it became the "default" mode. --- This may be a bit of hair splitting and I haven't checked it but I don't think aeolian was the "base mode" for the note naming system. It was probably hypodorian since it was far more common, possibly the most common, mode in medieval music. (For those who are confused now and want to become even more confused, the "plagal" ("hypo") modes are essentially the same as the "authentic" modes we still use today but with the root positioned in the middle of the scale. Dorian and hypodorian both has D as their root but the dorian scale goes from D to d and the hypodorian from A, through D and up to a.)

[@SingularlyNaked]

Now I want to see a collaboration with RobWords!

[@samanjj]

Thanks for the awesome video. would you please consider doing the same kind of history lesson on the Iranian/persian music system? It seems really complex with its use of quarter tones and ornamentations and I think you would be able to explain it really well.

[@musicjst]

Fascinating! Cheers David

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks for watching 🙂

[@VincentLoraine]

An often asked question is now answered. Thank you!!!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

to summarize: - the 7 tones of each mode are a pattern of half steps and whole steps - the earliest keyboards were capable of playing all seven modes and did not require the missing half-steps between the whole steps, thus only the "natural" keys were needed. - in order to retain the same pattern of half steps and whole steps when starting on a different tone (i.e. transposing, or "changing keys"), it is necessary to supply the missing half-steps between the whole steps (C-D, D-E, F-G, G-A, and A-B) - keyboards gradually evolved to include the missing half-steps (C#/Db, D#/Eb, F#/G, G#/Ab, and A#/Bb) to allow keyboards to play any mode starting on any tone. - concommitant with development of the chromatic keyboard was the necessity of evolving tuning systems (another topic that is rather expansive) ultimately into the equal-temperament (slightly slightly shrunk 5ths) - the "do-re-mi" solfege can be "fixed" ("do is always C) or movable ("do" is always the first scale degree of a major scale) and the syllables represent patterns of whole steps and half steps and their resulting intervals

[@the64Kquestion]

Thank you so much, David!

[@zachansen8293]

You can tune a piano to have the keys be any note you want. You can also redefine the letters to be different pitches. It's any scale you want it to be.

[@picksalot1]

Interesting history. Years ago and before I knew the history, I started thinking of the basic scale as A minor, as it was in harmony with the Alphabet. I like the modes, and recently adopted the Nashville Chord Numbering System of chords 1, 4, 5 being Major, and 2, 3, 6 being Minor, and 7 being Diminished. In that system, a Minor Key has the 6 chord as the Tonic, not a Minor 1 chord. I find this a lot easier to understand, and works particularly well on the guitar. Thank

[@artrogers3985]

Fascinating stuff. I’ll watch this one more than twice 🎸

[@oldunclemick]

I gave the Like for including tetrachords - very handy yet overlooked.

[@oliverdiamond6594]

FINALLY THE VIDEO I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR.

[@johnf991]

Excellent.. Re Solfége, I thought you were going to go on to explain the music reading system for singers called "Tonic Sol Fah", based on Do, Re, Mi, but it could be written to apply to any key, so the first note in the scale of the key concerned in the song was called 'Do", etc, so all intervals could be judged from there. My father (born 1914 and who belonged to several choirs in his lifetime, would be given or would buy the Tonic Sol Fah version of whatever piece was being learned, and he could sight read it. I think there were abbreviations of each note, but I don't know how the system dealt with sharps and flats. Apologies if this has been dealt with elsewhere, but I thought I'd mention it in case some of your viewers were unaware of it.

[@edgardogonzalez916]

The tuning of an orchestra or any instrument started several centuries ago using the key of La in Italianuding a tuning fork - since A is the first letter it began to be used to designate the chords progression instead of using the key Do

[@DEADLINETV]

Finally the answer! Thanks!

[@KarlBonner1982]

I knew this was going to go into ancient modal theory! (You'd think that Aeolian was the original default scale because it starts on A, but nope - by the plain chant era Dorian was generally accepted as the "first mode" instead. )

[@kaitlyn__L]

I usually default to Dorian when I’m noodling about, good to see I’m in good historic company 😅

[@KarlBonner1982]

@@kaitlyn__L for me, Dorian always brings to mind the title screen theme from Final Fantasy IX 😅

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@KarlBonner1982 understandably! For me it reminds me of factory scenes in old cartoons; that feeling of fast, unstoppable machinery

[@Somethirdthing]

Great job David!

[@UMfan21]

Really interesting video. I have not studied musical theory but I watch a lot of these videos and I had come up with my own theory on this topic....turns out I was wrong! The origin is much older than I realized! I thought this came out of the 12 TET system we use, and that A=440Hz and all the tones/semi-tones would then be based off of A as the first letter in the alphabet. Doing it this way gives you the black/white keys but the history David explains is so much cooler.

[@markify8019]

I’m a bit confused, because in the United States, we don’t use “Si” for the 7th degree of a scale. We use “Ti”. “Si” is the syllable we use if you sharpen or raise the 5th degree of a scale. Do other countries use “Si” instead?

[@CineSoar]

This conversation lead me to wonder about ♫Si, a drink with jam and bread♫. From the Wiki: In Anglophone countries, "si" was changed to "ti" by Sarah Glover in the nineteenth century so that every syllable might begin with a different letter (also freeing Si for later use as Sol-sharp). “Ti" is used in tonic sol-fa (and in the famed American show tune "Do-Re-Mi").

[@mb5o]

I have wondered about that... Thanks.

[@RobMcCreery]

You have a talent for conveying complex information clearly and simply. Thank you! Is it correct to guess that piano configuration (with the lowest note being A) is related to this idea?

[@MacedoinaChoirs]

My last Music Instructor taught me this. It went in one ear and out the other. I'm gonna download this video for later references.

[@kurtcpi5670]

Back in the late 1970s I began working on coding the affordable PCs of the day. A lot of the access to system hardware was by their address in memory. The first book I got from the library started out describing why memory was referenced in the hexadecimal (hex) numeric system, not our familiar decimal. This makes perfect sense because hex maps cleanly to the actual binary system used by computers. They ended by pointing out that FFFF is easier to write than 65,535 and that humans really can't conceptualize numbers that large anyway. The point is, it really doesn't matter what we call the notes as long as we agree on the theory. Guitar players use capos to change the pitch of open strings, but still refer to a C "shape", because it's easier than having to transpose on the fly. Orchestral notation does the same thing, where a C to someone playing "Trumpet in B flat" is a different note than C on a flute.

[@CodyLibolt]

If you want to know why each note got the letter name that it did, you can think about it this way: The note D has to be the middle of the chain of perfect fifths because we have chosen to use the first 7 letters of the alphabet and D is the middle of the first 7 letters. (F C G D A E B) is the rearrangement of (A B C D E F G) that keeps D in the center of the pattern. The present naming system is the only way to use all 7 letters in a row for 7 white keys and have all fifths in the row be perfect fifths.

[@robinbaylor2672]

Upper/lower case notation is still used in folk tablature, for various instruments,

[@davefiano4172]

These are the questions that keep me up at night.

[@OsakaJoe01]

Thumbs up for the video. I've always wondered this myself. The other thing I wonder about is why we had to go through the alphabet system and not the solfège system. I had to learn A-G, only to find that solfège was also used, and not only did I learn solfège, I learned a bastardized version of it. I'm sure the Kodaly system has its uses, but I'm finding out more and more people around the world use the solfège system where do is fixed. My Japanese friends, my Spanish-speaking friends, my Italian friends all tell me the way I use solfège, making the tonic note of any key is weird. And I've always envied how they just call notes what they are. G is the key of So and they can all solfège from there. Wouldn't learning fixed-do solfège be more conducive toward producing better aural perception? And if that's the case, why don't we all just learn fixed do? La ti do re me Fi Si La is so much easier to say than A B C D E F-sharp G-sharp A... That's not even getting into the H instead of B that Germans and other countries use... I know the answer, it's always the answer, and it's sucks that it's always the answer, and it's "tradition." "We've always done it this way, and what's wrong with the way we've always done it?" seems to be what the explanation to any of this always boils down to... 🤷‍♂️

[@DesertRat332]

I thought the seventh note was 'Ti' not 'Si'. In the Sound of Music, Julie Andrews sings, "Ti, a drink with jam and bread." 😄

[@la.zanmal.]

From Wikipedia: ""Ut" was changed in the 1600s in Italy to the open syllable Do,[7] at the suggestion of the musicologist Giovanni Battista Doni (based on the first syllable of his surname), and Si (from the initials for "Sancte Iohannes") was added to complete the diatonic scale. In Anglophone countries, "si" was changed to "ti" by Sarah Glover in the nineteenth century so that every syllable might begin with a different letter..."

[@obscuritystunt]

Showing the 7 modes on the white keys blew my mind. I finally get it.

[@BramCohen]

That's all well and good, but when they decided to give the notes numbers why on earth did they keep the letters as they were and make numbers roll up at C, so it goes C3 D3 E3 F3 G3 A3 B3 C4?

[@mashchill]

Cool explainig! Thank you! I didn’t know before, what in UK and USA use only "CDEFGAB" system. Also solfege have fun interpretation names of notes from Latin, is it: Do - Dominus(master), Re - rerum(matter/materia), Mi - miraculum(miracle), Fa - familias рlanetarium(solar system), Sol - solis(sun), La - lactea via(milky way), Si - siderae(heaven)

[@elias69420]

That is not true. The names of the notes actually come from a hymn to St. John, more precisely the first syllables of each line: UT queant laxis REsonare fibris etc.

[@mashchill]

@@elias69420 really! my bad. thanks for information!

[@TonyLovell]

Excellent question! Related: 1. why doesn't a season change occur on Jan 1? 2. why are European shoes 1 meter long?

[@louanges_discernees]

Thank you. Being French I am trying to move to the ABC system. May I add that the names of the notes in solfege introduced by Mr Arezzo come from the first syllable of a sacred chant dedicated to "saint John the baptist" in the catholic religion. Maybe you mentioned it in the other video I am about to check thank you for your content !!

[@ActaeaMusic]

Fascinating historical review!

[@sergiorestrepo6657]

Thank you David

[@motoservo]

I got into this discussion a few years back on a FB group, always thought it would make an interesting video if I started making content. Thanks for ruining one of my opportunities, David. :P Kidding, thanks for top notch explanation.

[@ianbennett5245]

My mother told me many years ago that the note names in what was then called the "tonic sol-fa" - do re mi, etc - were the first syllables of the sung collect of the day in the Catholic liturgy, and was the initial note to be sung.

[@tothefinlandstation]

What is the earliest song we can be reasonably sure we can play the same way it was played when it was written? Like recognizably the same melody/rhythm.

[@HelloKittyFanMan]

One might also ask: Why is the necessary comma missing from between "major" and "not"?

[@nicholas_scott]

That makes sense. I always assumed organs used a c-compass because length of “c” pipes are base 2. Ie 1”, 2”, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc

[@uxartmusicvideo-andphotogr2043]

For brass instruments, notetion should start with B note and for guitar E note. First note C is only on tuned chromatic instruments like piano, harp, harpsichord, xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone, chromatic kantele and zither, accordion

[@robinpetersson3081]

Funny, I grew up in Sweden and dabbled in music like most people do when they're young. When I moved to the US I started taking piano lessons and I could have sworn that there was an H on the piano. But my memory must have failed me. Now I just had a revelation about this missing H 😅

[@juanibiapina]

H is also in the German system

[@wolfgangroth6265]

H = Bb and B=Bb in Germany,Austria, Parts of Switzerland and Sweden(?) Qite stupid! Came about because of the graphic similaritie of b and h (what I learned (in Germany))

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Merci beaucoup. Just to be precise the French speaking part of Switzerland also used the Do Ré system. I'm listening to a lecture about a singer who learned early music Solmization and he talked about the Guidovian hand. The relationship of the hand and the vocal chords is probably genetically imprinted on our nervous system. I wouldn't know since in all my choir classes teachers told me to move my lips and not make a sound.

[@claudelamoreux8543]

"...all my choir classes teachers told me to move my lips and not make a sound."😅

[@edwardblair4096]

Each joint in your thumb and fingers corresponds to one of the noted between the G on the bottom of the bass cleff and the D on the second from the top line of the treble cleff (for completeness, the next note E was indicated by pointing above the top of the hand). A choir director could lead his singers by pointing to his hand to indicate which notes to sing. I'm sure there was also a tactile component. Some people learn things better if they can touch something or feel a melody has a particular shape.

[@raulcheva]

UT Re Mi Fa Sol La Si, were the first 7 Latin syllabes of a catholic liturgic poem. Singing UT repeatedly showed great technical difficulty, so they ended using Do (From Ut Dominus, the Lord✝️). 😅

[@jozafax]

Great video!

[@Boomsterblak]

Very interesting...thankyou

[@OrlyYahalom]

I've always wondered why the "first" note is marked by C. For me it's "Do".

[@KeithFlint350]

and B is H in many countries

[@mashchill]

​@@KeithFlint350 not quite, it's may be strange, but sometimes B is it Hb :)

[@Odrox]

Sometimes B is Si and sometimes B is Ti.

[@DUHRIZEO]

Oh interesting! Cool perspective shift.

[@Ni5ei]

Thanks for explaining. I've been asking myself many times why on earth we start with C instead of A.

[@teedtad2534]

Well explained! Good tips! Good colors ! Easy to see everything with clear letters 🔠🔠🔠🔠🔠!

[@joelcaron8291]

I am.from Qiebec, so Inlearned Solfège. When I got older, with a band and getting my first charts, I though It was the english like everything else in french life in a middle of english culture... .. Now I am fully bilingual in music !!! I think it is a bit easier to learn in english... just like learning english is easier than learning french !!

[@luigiscazzari4724]

Thank you for the video. I use Solfege and for the life of me, I could not figure out why Do is not equal to A.

[@JoseAlcerreca]

It would be cool for you to design a better naming method for notes, chords, etc. similar to what Rob Words does with English.

[@BLA-CK._.HEAR-T]

I have schoolwork and saw this video: Good question let's see it😅

[@thespyheithem5598]

Beginners: yes why🤔 pro: who cares💀

[@patrickanderson62]

I imagined that the reason was similar to why computer keyboards have the letters where they are; it tested well with typewriters, and it would take much more time to fix it than to just keep it and deal with finding the darned m key

[@zay-ju8fb]

you didn't really explain how the do-re-mi is linked to CDE etc, isn't it just any major scale since they are just a tone apart?

[@DavidBennettPiano]

You may benefit from this video of mine: Most countries don't use ABCDEFG for note names kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4ekaZWdiKena6M

[@kaptnkirk2740]

Very intersting! But there is one question remaining: why was the Hexachord c-d-e-f-g-a determined to the "natural" hexachord? That was very early, far before major-scales where used.

[@Cherodar]

Great point! It has to do with the mutability of B within the Guidonian system. The F hexachord contains B-flat, and the G hexachord contains B-natural, but the C hexachord contains no B at all, so it mediates nicely between them! It's the only hexachord not to contain any mutable pitch, in other words. Does that have anything to do with the prominence of C major that emerged about seven centuries later? In hindsight it seems in must have, but music history could easily have gone plenty of other ways!

[@zenbija]

I was wondering if the question might be biased because the note system was around long before the invention of the piano. Today, of course, it's easiest to show these theory concepts using a piano keyboard, much more so than demonstrating with a violin or a flute. The white keys on a standard piano are "tuned" to C Major but they could conceivably be different. The notes of the scale are describing all kinds of instrumental and vocal music, not just piano.

[@Cherodar]

Yes, you've got it--the system of note names was built around vocal music, not around the keyboard. However, the keyboard was still designed around the system of note names, so the question as to what the significance of the "C major scale" is remains... and the answer is that nobody thought of it as "C major" until the mid-to-late seventeenth century at the very earliest, because the major scale wasn't the most important type of scale in European music for most of the history of staff notation.

[@johnwebb4499]

I like the D Minor Scale. Because I like hitting D F and A Majors. But, I also like the E Minor Scale. Cuz you can hit E's, G's, and B's.

[@captainhowdy7847]

Was interesting to hear about the origin of the musical scale. I had presumed that it had developed from the circle of fifths (tetrachords being a concept that I've only just learned about) - a fifth being a sound frequency ratio of 3:2 which results in a twelve step clockwise movement until returning to the origin (albeit a full octave higher). This would essentially make the scale a scientific concept. Question for David and other keyboard warrior experts: if the world was reset tomorrow (not unlikely!) and all human knowledge restarted from scratch - jumping 5000 years into the future - do you think the music scale would evolve again to its present state, or be something different?