Lesson #1- What is C4?

Reading sheet music is like reading a foreign language. There are rules and patterns that must be followed for the music to sound pleasing to the ear and so the musician can interpret the music correctly in order to perform it.

Before we get to the music, we must first know how to write it correctly.

When most people think of C4, they think of the explosive. C4 or Composition C4 is a plastic explosive that can be detonated with a blasting cap, or burned using a flame that is mold-able, and fairly stable without a means of detonation. However, this is not the C4 I am referring to in the title. In music theory C4 is the pitch C in the fourth octave, otherwise known as middle C.(highlighted in blue)

Every note has a similar label. A4 (highlighted in yellow) is the pitch A in the fourth octave. Octaves are numbered from lowest to highest, starting with 0. The first note on a piano is A0, and the last is C8. Every octave starts on C and ends on the B above, then the next octave starts on the C one half-step(the very next key on a piano) up. From this post on, when I am referring to a note, I will try to use this method of identifying the pitch to make it clear which octave I'm in.