The Octave
You have now learned notes using all the different letter names used in music - A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Although there are only seven different letter names for notes, these notes are repeated on higher and lower pitches. The distance between a note and its repeat after passing all of the other letter names is called an octave.
This term comes from the Latin word for eight. If you start on the note low D and count up to the next D note, you will find that it is eight notes above the low D. Practice alternating between the low and high D notes as shown in the following example.
This example alternates between low D and all the other notes you have learned before arriving at the D note one octave higher. The order is then reversed on the way back down.
Here is another exercise to help you become familiar with all the notes between low D and high D. Take it slowly at first and make sure all your notes are clear and even.
Here is another version of the children’s song you learned in Lesson 7. Although the melody is the same, the actual notes are different because it is written here in the key of D instead of F, which means the melody is based around the note D and the previous version was based around the note F. It is possible to start any melody on any of the notes used in music.
Because of the fingerings and techniques used on different musical instruments, the same key can be easy to play in on one instrument and difficult on another. For this reason it is common to change the key of a piece of music. Changing music from one key to another is called transposing is discussed in detail in lesson 20.
