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← Learn·Musical Alphabet & Octaves

The Musical Alphabet

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Western music names pitches using just seven letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. After G, the pattern repeats back to A — there is no H.

Play a note, then its next-door letter an octave higher. Notice it sounds like "the same note, but higher" — that's because doubling a pitch's frequency produces the next occurrence of the same letter name.

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💡 Tip

You don't need to memorize frequencies — just that going up by one octave means "same letter, twice as high-sounding."

⚠️ Common mistake

It's tempting to assume the alphabet restarts at some other letter, or that there's an "H" note in some countries' notation. In the notation Eardle uses, it's always A through G, then back to A.

📝 Summary

Pitches are named A-G, repeating. The next occurrence of the same letter, higher up, is one octave away.

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