At sounding pitch

Notated or sounding

If you play C shapes with a capo on the third fret, you are fretting C major, but it sounds E♭ major. The sounding key is therefore not the one in which you fret. The article Using a capo properly turns this into a rule: name the sounding key and, if necessary, the shape with it: “E♭ major, I play C with the capo on three”. Otherwise there is chaos: if the bass player plays “in C”, it does not fit the sounding E♭ major.

The difference exists in notation as well. The guitar sounds an octave lower than written, which the small 8 at the clef shows. For orchestral instruments additions such as “in A” or “in E” appear in the score, giving information about the pitching of the instrument.

Orchestra

• Sinfonie Nr. 7, Allegretto Ludwig van Beethoven, op. 92 · score · 54 pages

  On the first page of the score there are additions such as “Clarinetti in A”, “Corni in E” and “Trombe in D”. They indicate the key in which the instruments are pitched. A clarinet in A, for example, sounds a minor third lower than written.

Measuring sounding pitch

A tuner shows the sounding note in hertz and cents, not the notated one. The standard pitch A4 sounds at 440 Hz. A guitar with a capo on the fifth fret sounds five semitones higher; its five lowest semitones are missing.

Common mistakes

• Equating shape and sound: With a capo a different key sounds from that of the shape.
• Telling the band “we play in C”: What is meant is the sounding key.
• Forgetting the guitar's octave: It sounds an octave lower than written.