The octave 0 of the scientific pitch notation is traditionally called the sub-contra octave, and the tone marked C 0 in SPN is written as ,C or C, or CCC in traditional systems, such as Helmholtz notation. The notation makes use of the traditional tone names (A to G) which are followed by numbers showing which octave they are part of.įor standard A440 pitch equal temperament, the system begins at a frequency of 16.35160 Hz, which is assigned the value C 0. Thus, the use of scientific pitch notation to distinguish octaves does not depend on the pitch standard used. Scientific pitch notation concerns only how pitch names are notated, that is, how they are designated in printed and written text, and does not inherently specify actual frequencies.
Scientific pitch is a pitch standard-a system that defines the specific frequencies of particular pitches (see below). Scientific pitch notation ( SPN), also known as American standard pitch notation ( ASPN) and international pitch notation ( IPN), is a method of specifying musical pitch by combining a musical note name (with accidental if needed) and a number identifying the pitch's octave.Īlthough scientific pitch notation was originally designed as a companion to scientific pitch (see below), the two are not synonymous. Musical notation system to describe pitch and relative frequency Ten Cs in scientific pitch notation
