What's the highest note/chord vs lowest

Harmony & Theory
#22

Hi Gong, I think you’re certainly thinking on my wavelength. Tho tbh with you I’ve kind of given up on fundamental (and possibly ignorant) questions like this. As I’ve learned over time that things seem to flow in cycles, and it’s all about perspective. In an infinite existence, my lowest note may be different from yours etc…

I am having a hard time remembering my original concept, but it was mostly along the lines of trying to cement a scale in my head that was “true”. There are people with perfect pitch and logically to me that means they have a grasp, or anchor in some form of truth or reality separate from subjective perception. A kind of lock on to vibrations and an almost visual perception of the level of pitch they are hearing.

I know as I add more and more words to this it just gets more confused, but that was my intuitive concept, that there must be something that perfect pitch people are locking onto that I can understand conceptually. Of course in music, just like life the more you learn the more complex it gets, so I’ve been confused so many times and to the point of just letting it go.

Idk if there is a common frequency that we all vibe with or if it’s a free for all where the vibration you currently feel is just one of an infinite perspective. No doubt my original question was a bit more fundamental than my text implied and I really appreciate you seeing that. But honestly, where I am atm is just a limbo between my own intuitive feelings, and others realistic experiences. So I am aware of my ignorance and willing to learn from others who show honest seeking into some fundamental reality. If thats even a real thing :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Edit: was rather drunk making that post lol

#23

And in regards to the cycle… I think my original question is about where does that cycle start… What note

That I think is what I meant. I apologise as you know how it is, life is a trip… a mess, so much stuff going on. It’s hard to get a grip of even you most intimate thought from the past :flushed:

#24

The key of C starts with a C as the first note. The key of B starts with a B as the first note… and, as you have gathered, the key of A starts with A as the first note.

Nope, the concept of “lowest” or “highest” makes no sense (at lest to me), and I think that you’ll immediately understand why: Let’s pretend that you have a piano and want to play in the key of C (you can only press white keys). You don’t have just one “A,” you have lots of them, and they are numbered as follows, from low to high: A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, and A7. Going much higher (A8, A9, etc.) doesn’t really serve musical purpose, and going much lower results in a ridiculous size (and also serves little musical purpose).

So A5 < B5 but A5 > B3. So statements like “A < B” make no sense, as you can see, because they’re not specific enough: Which A and B are they talking about?!

Does this make sense? :smiley:

Note: I forgot to bring in guitars. A guitar starts (for standard tuning) with E2 as the lowest note that it can support, and if it has 24 frets, it can hit E6 (no bending). So E2 is the second E on a piano keyboard, that’s where a guitar starts. (For reference, a bass guitar starts at E1, the first E on a piano keyboard.)

Note: Ah, I think that I get the original question! Let’s say that we’re looking at a particular octave, say the 5th. Then yes, C5 < D5 < E5 < F5 < G5 < A5 < B5, and in that sense C is the “lowest” of the notes in that octave.

#25

I wonder what is typically the lowest discernable note. I know the lower you go the more muddy it gets. I wonder if people with perfect pitch loose the sense of the note at some point

#26

The key of

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Deffinity my fave

#27

The Bosendorfer Imperial goes down to C.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIOQ2Fwto8k

Note names are convenient labels for specific frequencies. And not everyone agrees on the frequencies. See e.g.:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A440_(pitch_standard)

It’s not just a historical or orchestra issue either. Yngwie, SRV and others tune to E♭. But the sheet music is often written as if the guitar was tuned to E. This also seems to be how e.g. Yngwie thinks about it. He’ll say a song is in A, but it’s A = 415.3 Hz. Which sounds the same as A♭ when A = 440 Hz.

Adam Neely has an interesting video on perfect pitch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRaACa1Mrd4

TL;DW for people with perfect pitch, their absolute sense of pitch drifts over time and they lose it with age.

Which I think confirms there is no lowest note name we can all agree on. And if there was, we can’t all hear the same range of frequencies (and the frequencies we can hear reduces over time). So…