In music, the letter names for notes can be a little confusing. So here’s a nice, concise explanation to clear things up.
As you’ve seen before, letter symbols are used to name specific notes. Natural notes have simple names like A, B, C, etc. — while other notes (like C# and Db) are labeled using extra sharp and flat symbols. With enough practice, it’s easy enough to wrap your head around that.
But things get a little crazy when musicians start talking about “double-sharp” or “double-flat” notes. What’s that all about?! Well, it turns out that any note in the chromatic scale can have a different letter name depending on how sharp or flat it is.
Here’s a snappy illustration of how this works. This graphic presents every possible name for each note in music:
Double-sharp (x) names are in the outer ring of the figure, followed by the sharp (#), natural, flat (b), and double-flat (bb) names for each note. There are still only 12 basic notes (or pitches), mind you … but each one can have two or three different “enharmonic” names.
For example, another name for “C” is “B#” — or, depending on the key, “Dbb.” Likewise, “A” sometimes goes by “Bbb” or it’s alternative alias, “G##.” Each name is different, but the note is actually the same.
Of course, this would all be super confusing without ColorMusic. Because all these different symbols can make your head swim. But with ColorMusic, it’s easy to see how these enharmonic notes are really identical.
The colored shapes quickly clarify that the chromatic scale still has only 12 notes. And you can see that notes C, B#, and Dbb are simply the same pitch … or that A, Bbb, and G## are identical. So by focusing on the actual patterns in music — using ColorMusic — you don’t get tripped up on the strange musical terminology of yesteryear.
Oh, yeah … and in everyday use, only some letter names are used for certain notes. For example, C is rarely called B# or Dbb. And B hardly ever goes by Cb or Ax. So here’s a look at the most common letter names for notes. These, my friend, are the note names you’ll typically see in music. So step back, soak in this pattern, and then make some music!