Editing C (musical note) (section)

==Octave nomenclature==
===Middle C===
{{redirect|Middle C|the novel|Middle C (novel){{!}}''Middle C'' (novel)}}
{{image frame|caption=Middle C centrally set on a grand staff|content=<div style="margin:2px 8px 8px 4px;"><score>
\new GrandStaff <<
 \time 5/4
 \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" \magnifyStaff 1.5 } { s4 c'1 }
 \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" \magnifyStaff 1.5 \clef bass } { s4 s1 } >>
</score></div>}}
Middle&nbsp;C (the fourth C key from left on a standard 88-key [[piano]] keyboard) is designated C<sub>4</sub> in [[scientific pitch notation]], c{{prime}} in [[Helmholtz pitch notation]], and note number 60 in the [[MIDI]] standard.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/Complete_MIDI_1.0_Detailed_Specification_96-1-3 |title=Complete MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification |year=1996 |pages=10}}</ref>

While the expression ''middle&nbsp;C'' is generally clear across instruments and clefs, some musicians naturally use the term to refer to the C note in the middle of their specific instrument's range. C<sub>4</sub> (approximately 261.626&nbsp;Hz<ref><math>\frac{440}{2^{\!^\tfrac{9}{12}}}</math></ref>) may be called ''Low&nbsp;C'' by someone playing a [[Western concert flute]], which has a higher and narrower [[playing range]] than the piano, while C<sub>5</sub> (523.251&nbsp;Hz) would be middle&nbsp;C. This practice has led some to encourage standardizing on C<sub>4</sub> as the definitive middle&nbsp;C in instructional materials across all instruments.<ref>{{cite journal
|last=Large
|first= John
|date=February 1981
|title= Theory in Practice: Building a Firm Foundation
|journal= [[Music Educators Journal]]
|volume= 32
|pages= 30–35}}</ref>

On the [[Staff (music)#Grand staff|grand staff]], middle&nbsp;C is notated with a [[ledger line]] above the top line of the [[bass clef|bass staff]] or below the bottom line of the [[treble clef|treble staff]]. Alternatively, it is written on the centre line of a staff using the [[alto clef]], or on the fourth line from the bottom, or the second line from the top, of staves using the [[tenor clef]].

===Other octaves===
In vocal music, the term ''High C'' (sometimes called ''Top C''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/04/archives/music-view-birgit-nilsson-the-return-of-a-supersoprano-music-view.html|title=Birgit Nilsson – The Return of a Super-Soprano|author=Harold C. Schonberg|author-link=Harold C. Schonberg|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 4, 1979}}</ref>) can refer to either the soprano's [[scientific pitch notation|C<sub>6</sub>]] (1046.502&nbsp;Hz; {{prime|c}}{{prime}}{{prime}} in Helmholtz notation) or the tenor's C<sub>5</sub>; soprano written as the C two ledger lines above the treble clef, with the tenor voice the space above concert A, sung an octave lower. Sometimes written with “8v” below the treble, to represent the octave (8 tones in a major scale).

''Tenor C'' is an [[organ builder]]'s term for ''small C'' or C<sub>3</sub> (130.813&nbsp;Hz), the note one [[octave]] below middle C. In older stoplists it usually means that a [[Organ stop|rank]] was not yet full compass, omitting the bottom octave, until that octave was added later on.