If you look in retrospect, the letter designation of notes appeared much earlier than the notes, which now symbolize all existing sounds. Of course, writing one note or another is much easier using the usual letters than a whole writing system on five stripes. Most often, such a technique was used by unprofessional musicians who simply had to pass on their achievements to other people or sons. Nevertheless, classical composers used exclusively a stave, and letters were used in music only as auxiliary characters.
A little history of music theory
Initially, the letter designation of notes was recorded using the Greek alphabet. Unfortunately, such sources have not fully survived to the present day, so it is impossible to say for sure which letter was the symbol of a particular note. However, soon, even in antiquity, sounds began to be recorded using the Latin alphabet. A similar system in its original and unchanged form is used to this day. It should only be noted that the appearance of such an instrument as a piano, this scale has expanded slightly, namely by one note. For her, the musicians who lived in the 18th century had already come up with a new literal meaning, which was not previously on the list.
In what letters are the notes recorded
Now we will consider how exactly the notation of notes occurs with letters, and try (who needs) to remember this sequence. So, the simplest gamut - C Major, begins with the eponymous note C, which is written in the Latin alphabet as C (tse). Now we consider the remaining six notes in order: re - D (de), mi - E (e), fa - F (ef), salt - G (ge), a - A (a), B flat - B (be) . Why exactly C flat, and not just C, as in natural major scale? The answer is simple: initially, the structure of all the instruments of the clavier (harpsichord, clavichord) was such that the seventh sound was not the usual seventh step of the major fret, which we used to hear, but lowered. However, at that time such a gamma was considered correct, therefore, for the last sound, as for all the others, a letter was invented. When the piano appeared, the name B for C flat remained the same, and for the “clean” notes C came up with the letter H (ha).
All other flats and sharps
Every musician knows that the sharp sign increases any note by half a tone, and a flat, respectively, lowers it by the same half tone. In this case, the letter designation of the notes changes slightly, or rather continues, depending on which character we choose. For sharps, the ending is (is) is used, which is attributed to the letter symbolizing the note, and for flat - es (es). So, it turns out that Fa Sharp is Fis, and Re Flat is Des. But it is worth remembering that this rule also has its exceptions, and we will now consider them. In our scale there are two notes that are written in vowels: mi - E, la - A. If you need to say Mi Diez or La Diez, then we write strictly by the rule - Eis and Ais. When it comes to flat, the abbreviation is used, which looks like As, Es. C. B flat, as we recall, is denoted by the letter B, and C. Sharp (which is extremely rare in the texts) is written according to His rule.
Intervals and chords in music
Today, the letter designation of notes is not used in the same way as before, that is, not as the only way to transmit musical information. Now with the help of such an “alphabet” intervals and chords are recorded, the meaning and composition of which every musician should know. However, it is worth noting that for the notation of intervals, numbers are also used that indicate the number of notes covered by them. For example, a third - an interval that takes three notes is indicated by the number 3. Septima covers seven steps and is recorded with this number. Most often, such a science is taught in music schools at solfeggio classes, so that children understand how music is built. In notes, it is almost impossible to find such notes. We also note that the letter designation of notes for piano is also studied for purely cognitive purposes. Notes for pianists do not contain elements of the Latin alphabet.
Musical terms for other instruments
As mentioned above, letters are also used to indicate chords, especially when it comes to notes for stringed instruments. If the emphasis on the piano is on technique, therefore there are very few notes of chords, then there will be a lot of them, and you need to record them much more compactly. That is why the designation of notes on the guitar is a kind of rebus for all novice musicians. Above the usual notes there are capital and small letters, icons that seem to be confusing, but in fact everything is simple. If you need to play a major fret, it will always be indicated with an uppercase letter (C - C Major). If a minor is assumed, then a small letter is used, and the Latin m is assigned to it (am - La Minor). All other chords are studied in the learning process, and, believe me, remembering them is very easy.