Scientific pitch notation (or SPN, also known as American standard pitch notation (ASPN) and international pitch notation (IPN)) is a method of specifying musical pitch by combining a musical note name (with accidental if needed) and a number identifying the pitch’s octave.

Pitch refers to the high and low frequencies we hear music and/or sound.

Amplitude is the relative strength of sound waves (transmitted vibrations), which we perceive as loudness or volume. Amplitude is measured in decibels (dB), which refer to the sound pressure level or intensity. The lower threshold of human hearing is 0 dB at 1kHz.

Frequencies for equal-tempered scale, A4 = 440 Hz

The pitch names in the musical alphabet are: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. After “G”, the alphabet starts over again with the letter A. The lines and spaces at the top of the staff are higher in pitch than the ones at the bottom of the staff.

Clef. A clef (from French: clef “key”) is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes. Placed on one of the lines at the beginning of the stave, it indicates the name and pitch of the notes on that line.

The Bass Clef (also called the F Clef). The staff line in between the two dots of the clef is F. The stave line in between the two dots of the clef is F.

The letters of the lines and spaces cycle through the natural notes of the musical alphabet — A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, … and so on. The bottom line of the bass clef staff is the letter G. The next space above is the letter A.

The names of the notes are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Those notes repeat across the piano. The treble clef spaces correspond to the notes F, A, C, and E. Beginning on the bottom of the staff and going up, the notes spell face.

Staff, also spelled stave, in the notation of Western music, five parallel horizontal lines that, with a clef, indicate the pitch of musical notes.

In modern music, two clefs are used. They are the Treble Clef (G clef) and the Bass Clef (F clef).

Musical notes are written on a staff. A staff is made up of five horizontal lines and the four spaces between the lines. The vertical lines on the staff are called bars.

In Western musical notation, the staff (US) or stave (UK) (plural for either: staves) is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch or in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments.

An INTERVAL is the distance between two notes /pitches.

Sudden Changes – Sforzando A sudden Sforzando appears indicated by the notation og sf, or sfz after a continuing part, played softly (piano) in the beginning of the piece. Sforzando means you have to play a strong, sudden accent.