Why are the piano's white notes C not A?

Published: 27 January 2024
on channel: David Bennett Piano
116,400
4.7k

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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":    • Why does Germany have an H note?  
and my video on Do-re-mi:    • Most countries don't use ABCDEFG for ...  

SOURCES:
LivingPianosVideos, Why is C not Called A?:
   • Why Is C Not Called A in Music? Music...  
MusicCorner, Why C?: The Convoluted History of Note Names:    • Why C?: The Convoluted History of Not...  
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...
Early Music Sources - Gregorian Chant:    • Gregorian chant  
Early Music Sources - Solmization:    • Solmization and the Guidonian hand in...  
Early Music Sources - Modes:    • Modes in the 16th and 17th centuries  
Odd Quartet - The Origins of Music - The Story of Guido:    • The Origins of Music - The Story of G...  
12tone, why do notes have names?    • Why Do Notes Have Names?  
   • Ancient Music Genres Explained | by L...  
Translation of Boethius’ De institutione musica: https://classicalliberalarts.com/wp-c...
HistoryOfMusicTheory - Hexachords: https://historyofmusictheory.wordpres...


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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


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