Harmony Singing 101 Number System

On this website, the notes of the relative major scale,

do	re	mi	fa	so	la	ti	do	are being replaced by the numbers from 1 to 7:
▼	▼	▼	▼	▼	▼	▼	▼
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	1

The 12 notes of the relative chromatic (half tone) scale will be written as 1 2b 2 3b 3 4 5b 5 5# 6 7b 7 ..... possibly, plus primes or sub-primes — see below.

A half tone can be defined as the step from one piano key to one next to it (including the black keys), left or right, or from one fret on a guitar to the next. For a 'scientific' definition of a half tone — see Tuning Systems 101.

Major scale demo

The music's time axis runs from top to bottom throughout this website while pitch increases from left to right. Therefore, music is represented and to be read from top to bottom as in the following chart:

Major scale, ascending and descending (click on the notes to hear them).

⏵

Note names

Regarding note names, this website uses sub-primes (, ,, ,,,) for low notes and primes (' '' ''') for high notes, loosely based on Herrmann von Helmholtz's pitch notation.

,c is one octave below c

c' is one octave above c

etc.

Accordingly, in the number system used here,

,1 is one octave below 1

1' is one octave above 1

So, a string of major scales might look like this:
..... ,,6 ,,7 ,1 ,2 ,3 ,4 ,5 ,6 ,7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1' 2' 3' 4' 5' 6' 7' 1'' 2'' .....

Assigning note numbers to absolute note names

Any number can represent any note, but once the key is chosen, 1 equals not only the key but is also assigned to the specific note in the octave below middle C, and all the other numbers are likewise assigned their absolute note.

For the following examples, we will use Scientific pitch notation. In this system, middle C is written as C4, the number defining the octave. So, if our song is in the key of C, the numbers in the first row translate to absolute notes as follows:

,,,6

,,,7

,,1

,,2

,,3

,,4

,,5

,,6

,,7

1''

2''

▼

The same for the key of B:

,,,6

,,,7

,,1

,,2

,,3

,,4

,,5

,,6

,,7

1''

2''

▼

G#1

A#1

C#2

D#2

F#2

G#2

A#2

C#3

D#3

F#3

G#3

A#3

C#4

D#4

F#4

G#4

A#4

C#5

D#5

F#5

G#5

A#5

C#6

C is not part of the B scale. In the key of B, C4 lies between do and re = between 1/B3 and 2/C#4, in other words, at the right border of the yellow squares.

The same for the key of G:

,,,6

,,,7

,,1

,,2

,,3

,,4

,,5

,,6

,,7

1''

2''

▼

F#1

F#2

F#3

F#4

F#5

C is the fourth note of the G scale.

The assignment of absolute notes as exemplified above is maintained throughout a song (or up to a modulation to another key), regardless of the chord progression. So, if the song is in the key of G, and when the chords go from G to C, the number 1 will NOT be assigned to C4 but will still represent G3; accordingly, the C major chord composed of the notes C4, E4, G4 will be represented by the numbers 4, 6, 1' in the number system, NOT 1, 3, 5.

Next, we will look at chord formulas like the one for C major above.

The Number System

Major scale demo

Note names

Assigning note numbers to absolute note names