why does 'C' have no sharps or flats - why didn't they start with 'A' ?

Question

what i mean is - however the mechanics of music work - cycle of 5ths etc etc - i cant seem to find an answer as to why they started with 'C'. It seems just a question of labelling - why not call it middle 'A' in a Grand Clef or on a piano - the mechanics wouldnt change - just the label ...

Answer 1

its a matter of linguistics, labelling, and lost history.

many different languages in the past had different alphabets, and not all of them began with "A". the first note that music theory was founded upon became "do", which is the pitch of "C".

the pitch that became known as C was the basis for a diatonic scale. when you sing "do re mi......" the word "do" actually means that C pitch in ...........Greek or Italian? (i think its Italian, i might be wrong... cant recall with 100% certainty since its been so long since i learned this stuff).

anyhow, from B to C, and from E to F, those notes in the major scale are half steps, not whole steps, and since that was how they built upon it, they didnt put sharps or flats in those spots, because there were no spaces in between. the others gained sharps and flats later on to fill the spaces, but since there werent spaces between b-c and e-f... no sharps no flats there.

HOWEVER, in terms of music theory, you can make anything sharp or flat for sake of continuity. you can have a B# or Cb for the sake of keeping things easy to follow.

but, you're right, any of those notes could have been named anything, instead of letters, they could have been numbers, or animals, or colors.... it still would have turned out the same, just named something different.

Answer 2

Most of these answers seem to be bullshit. 'C' just happens to be the note where the treble and bass clef are joined if drawn on a grand staff. I really think it has more to do with vocal music and the developement of the staff and ledger lines than letters. I'm sure the 'standard' for note frequencies came about well before the common use and standardization of sharps and flats. Ledger lines most certainly did.

Answer 3

In the naming of keys, all keys with sharps are named by going up one-half step above the last sharp. For example, the key has 4 sharps in it(F,C,G,D), so the key is E. There is an A key signature that already exists(3 sharps). That is how the key of C came to be. If you go to most bookstores, there is a music section and they would have a couple of books on basic theory.

Answer 4

Because you'd have to go back to the ancient Greeks who gave us the scales. Translating from their alphabet to latin, to ours, through centuries of development of music, has left us with music as it stands. It's a science, and it's quite tight in its development. You just have to accept some things.

To be concise, it's wrong to think that 'A' should be the first scale since the concept of 'A' as the first letter is a relative infant in the vast history of western music.

Answer 5

gd question! random though but still a minor has no sharps or flats? actually the whole aspect of how the piano has its keys is confusing =S

Answer 6

well, it depends on what instrument you're playing. C has sharps and flats for the clarinet and it's the middle, but for another instrument it isn't the middle

Answer 7

we'll bring that up at the next board meeting.