C (musical note)

Middle C  Play (info • help)

C or Do is the first note of the C major scale.

Designation by octave

Scientific designation	Helmholtz designation	Octave name	Frequency (Hz)	Other names	Audio
C−1	C͵͵͵ or ͵͵͵C or CCCC	Octocontra	8.176		Play (info • help)
C0	C͵͵ or ͵͵C or CCC	Subcontra	16.352		Play (info • help)
C1	C͵ or ͵C or CC	Contra	32.703		Play (info • help)
C2	C	Great	65.406	Low C, cello C, 8' C (see organ pipe length)	Play (info • help)
C3	c	Small	130.813	4' C or tenor C (organ), viola C	Play (info • help)
C4	c′	One-lined	261.626	Middle C	Play (info • help)
C5	c′′	Two-lined	523.251	Treble C, high C (written an octave higher for tenor voices)	Play (info • help)
C6	c′′′	Three-lined	1046.502	High C (soprano)	Play (info • help)
C7	c′′′′	Four-lined	2093.005	Double high C	Play (info • help)
C8	c′′′′′	Five-lined	4186.009	Eighth octave C, triple high C	Play (info • help)
C9	c′′′′′′	Six-lined	8372.018	Quadruple high C	Play (info • help)
C10	c′′′′′′′	Seven-lined	16744.036	Quintuple high C	Play (info • help)

Middle C

Middle C is the musical note C that is in the middle of the piano keyboard. It is not perfectly in the middle of the keyboard, but very nearly. When you compare all the Cs in the piano, it is the one nearest to the middle.

When writing Middle C in music notation, it is below the stave when using the treble clef and just above the stave when using the bass clef. This is shown in the first and last notes of the musical example below. The Middle C sits on a ledger line (an extension of the stave written just for one note).