B (musical note)
Encyclopedia
B, also known as H, Si or Ti, is the seventh note
of the solfège
. It lies a chromatic
semitone
below C
and is thus the enharmonic
equivalent of C-flat.
When calculated in equal temperament
with a reference of A
above middle C as 440 Hz
, the frequency
of Middle B (B4) is approximately 493.883 Hz. See pitch (music)
for a discussion of historical variations in frequency.
for a discussion on other differences in letter naming of the notes.
In the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and the Netherlands, as described above, B usually refers to the note a semitone
below C, while B-flat refers to the note a whole tone
below C.
However, in Germany, Central
and Eastern Europe
, and Scandinavia
, the label B is used for what, above, is called B-flat, and the note a semitone
below C is called H. This makes possible certain spellings which are otherwise impossible, such as the BACH motif
.
Note
In music, the term note has two primary meanings:#A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound;#A pitched sound itself....
of the solfège
Solfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
. It lies a chromatic
Chromatic scale
The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
semitone
Semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically....
below C
C (musical note)
C or Do is the first note of the fixed-Do solfège scale. Its enharmonic is B.-Middle C:Middle C is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation because of the note's position as the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard...
and is thus the enharmonic
Enharmonic
In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note , interval , or key signature which is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature, but "spelled", or named, differently...
equivalent of C-flat.
When calculated in equal temperament
Equal temperament
An equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of tuning, in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratio. As pitch is perceived roughly as the logarithm of frequency, this means that the perceived "distance" from every note to its nearest neighbor is the same for...
with a reference of A
A (musical note)
La or A is the sixth note of the solfège. "A" is generally used as a standard for tuning. When the orchestra tunes, the oboe plays an "A" and the rest of the instruments tune to match that pitch. Every string instrument in the orchestra has an A string, from which each player can tune the rest of...
above middle C as 440 Hz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
, the frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
of Middle B (B4) is approximately 493.883 Hz. See pitch (music)
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
for a discussion of historical variations in frequency.
Designation by octave
| Scientific Scientific pitch notation Scientific pitch notation is one of several methods that name the notes of the standard Western chromatic scale by combining a letter-name, accidentals, and a number identifying the pitch's octave... designation |
Helmholtz Helmholtz pitch notation Helmholtz pitch notation is a musical system for naming notes of the Western chromatic scale. Developed by the German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz, it uses a combination of upper and lower case letters , and the sub- and super-prime symbols to describe each individual note of the scale... designation |
Octave name | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| B−1 | B͵͵͵ or ͵͵͵B | Subsubcontra | 15.434 |
| B0 | B͵͵ or ͵͵B | Subcontra | 30.868 |
| B1 | B͵ or ͵B | Contra | 61.735 |
| B2 | B | Great | 123.471 |
| B3 | b | Small | 246.942 |
| B4 | b′ | One-lined | 493.883 |
| B5 | b′′ | Two-lined | 987.767 |
| B6 | b′′′ | Three-lined | 1975.533 |
| B7 | b′′′′ | Four-lined | 3951.066 |
| B8 | b′′′′′ | Five-lined | 7902.133 |
| B9 | b′′′′′′ | Six-lined | 15804.266 |
Variation of meaning by geographical region
The referent of the musical note B varies by location. See noteNote
In music, the term note has two primary meanings:#A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound;#A pitched sound itself....
for a discussion on other differences in letter naming of the notes.
In the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and the Netherlands, as described above, B usually refers to the note a semitone
Semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically....
below C, while B-flat refers to the note a whole tone
Major second
In Western music theory, a major second is a musical interval spanning two semitones, and encompassing two adjacent staff positions . For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated on adjacent staff postions...
below C.
However, in Germany, Central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, and Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, the label B is used for what, above, is called B-flat, and the note a semitone
Semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically....
below C is called H. This makes possible certain spellings which are otherwise impossible, such as the BACH motif
BACH motif
In music, the BACH motif is the motif, a succession of notes important or characteristic to a piece, B flat, A, C, B natural. In German musical nomenclature, in which the note B natural is written as H and the B flat as B, it forms Johann Sebastian Bach's family name...
.