Who chose to use the letters A to G for the musical notes? Why these particular intervals between them?

Question

The intervals go tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone.

Answer 1

well music is all based in math. to start, basic tuning pitch is "A 440" , the number being the frequency. if you double that frequency, you get another A this is what determines the space between octaves. combine that with the fact that western music uses tertial harmony (harmony built on intervals of a third) and the scale that finds itself most pleasing when added to all the theory of building chords to the ear follows the pattern you just described for a major scale. Since there are eight notes in the scale and the last note is really the first, they are named for the first seven letters of the alphabet. Really the only way to truely understand this is through a full music theory course (which I have taken I'm not making this up!) But I hope this helps.



The ignorance of some people amazes me... if you don't have knowledge of the subject matter DON'T ANSWER THE QUESTION!

Answer 2

It's very difficult to give you a short answer since this process took many centuries. Briskly, I can answer your question only partly, but I'd be glad to talk to you directly on the subject, which really fascinates me. We start from C today, because that was the first note of the first line of an old poem which had lines starting in the 7 notes: ut (later do), re, mi, fa, sol, la, si. They probably began in A before that because for the ancient Greeks the A mode was considered to be one of the best - notice that the Greeks believed music inspired ethos and the A and D modes were considered by many the best inspiration. Now, remember that the tuning system was different then. And why using letters instead of numbers or something else? Well, probably that is just convention. As for this position of tones and semitones, I think that is primarily for two reasons directly:

1) how these different order of intervals appealed to the listener
2) how the theory was formed throughout the ages. Think about it: The Greeks discovered the consonances and invented the system of scales. If you go from consonance to dissonance, you'll find, for example A-A (perfect consonance) A-E (consonance); E-E and E-B; B-B and B-F (in the middle ages they avoided this tritone by using Bb, when performing); F-F and F-C; C-C and C-G, and G-G and G-D. There you go! You have all the notes we use today!

Now, there is a lot - I mean A LOT of simplification here. This took centuries, even millenia, to happen. So my intent was just to give you an idea, but I strongly recommend you study history of western music more deeply to understand these processes.

I hope this is helpful.
Take care.

Answer 3

Actually, people start from C to B, so it will be: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. No one starts from A to G, although that is alphabetical. C Major is the most common and simple key, which is way people go from C to B.

Answer 4

I hate to answer like this....
Why Not.
Why call the sky blue, why call night day, and so on. You would have to go ask the person who chose the letters. As for the intervals I am sure there is some logical explination.