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Most musicians know that we can play a major scale just using the white notes of the piano and that scale is "C major". C major is treated like the "default scale", it has no flats or sharps, just white notes. But why "C"? Would it not make more sense for this "default" scale to start on A, just like the alphabet?
Here's my video on the "German H": https://youtu.be/hlafE9fm4_g?si=Or5Ms7rvVST1jSzx
and my video on Do-re-mi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVA8bgSBt5A
SOURCES:
LivingPianosVideos, Why is C not Called A?:
https://youtu.be/g8DMIRByVqU
MusicCorner, Why C?: The Convoluted History of Note Names: https://youtu.be/NRDwrKMan_Q
Two Minute Music Theory, Why C Major Has No Sharps or Flats: Why C Major Has No Sharps or Flats
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_system_of_ancient_Greece
Early Music Sources - Gregorian Chant: https://youtu.be/QuRrd35kvUo
Early Music Sources - Solmization: https://youtu.be/IRDDT1uSrd0
Early Music Sources - Modes: https://youtu.be/lyq48eybjZw
Odd Quartet - The Origins of Music - The Story of Guido: https://youtu.be/l-JMX7tVqog?si=ucrzJvvb1pt96Ub3
12tone, why do notes have names? https://youtu.be/BBbhfRfQIMM?si=rqQS5n8zE02v7hmC
https://youtu.be/JJ9KPHLrR_g?si=sUlZdA7Fsw-rP7nn
Translation of Boethius’ De institutione musica: https://classicalliberalarts.com/wp-content/uploads/BOETHIUS-Bower-1989-Fundamentals_of_Music.pdf
HistoryOfMusicTheory - Hexachords: https://historyofmusictheory.wordpress.com/2022/08/26/this-is-your-brain-on-hexachordal-solmization/
And, an extra special thanks goes to Peter Keller, Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇
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0:00 Why C major, not A major?
1:30 the Diatonic scale
3:25 Latin alphabet for note names
5:30 Where are the black notes?
6:27 Why C major, not A major?
6:48 my PIANO course with ArtMaster
7:45 What about Do-re-mi?
10:07 Outro