{"id":10888,"date":"2016-01-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hearandplay.com\/main\/?p=10888"},"modified":"2024-10-14T18:02:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T02:02:13","slug":"twelve-pitch-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hearplaymain.wpenginepowered.com\/twelve-pitch-classes\/","title":{"rendered":"Twelfth Day Of Christmas: Twelve Pitch Classes"},"content":{"rendered":"

In music, these seven alphabets are used to name notes:<\/p>\n

A B C D E F G<\/strong><\/p>\n

These seven alphabets form what is called the letter system<\/i>.<\/p>\n

A collection of pitches<\/em> can vary from a scale:
\n<\/p>\n

…to an interval:
\n<\/p>\n

…to a chord:
\n<\/p>\n

…to a chord progression.
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n

There are certain junctures in music where spelling<\/i> is necessary.<\/p>\n

Spelling in music has to do with the process of naming the letters of a collection of pitches.<\/p>\n

Spelling can be confusing to the beginner because there are many ways to spell the same note. <\/p>\n

For example, the D major scale:
\n
\n…can be spelled as<\/p>\n

Spelling #1 – <\/strong>D, E, G\u266d, G, A, B, C\u266f, D
\n<\/p>\n

Spelling #2 – <\/strong>D, E, F\u266f, G, A, B, D\u266d, D
\n<\/p>\n

Spelling #3 – <\/strong>D, E, G\u266d, G, A, B, D\u266d, D
\n<\/p>\n

I can even come up with some awkward spellings such as:<\/p>\n

Spelling #4 – <\/strong>D, F\u266d, G\u266d, G, A, B, D\u266d, D<\/p>\n

Spelling #5 – <\/strong>D, E, G\u266d, G, A, C\u266d, D\u266d, D
\n<\/p>\n

Spelling #6 – <\/strong>D, F\u266d, G\u266d, G, A, C\u266d, D\u266d, D
\n<\/p>\n

And this is because there are notes that sound alike but are spelled<\/em> different. Just think of words like “there,” “their,” and “they’re” in the English language. They sound the same but have entirely different meanings and usage.<\/p>\n

In this post, you\u2019ll see all the possible letter name spellings in music and also understand how to fit them into twelve pitch classes.<\/p>\n

Pitch Modifiers<\/b><\/h2>\n

Pitch modifiers alter the pitch level of notes either by raising or lowering them.<\/p>\n

There are five pitch modifiers used in modern music:<\/p>\n