What are do re mi on the piano?

In fixed do, used in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Latin America, do is always C, re D, mi E, fa F, sol G, la A and si B. In movable do, used by many singing teachers, do is the key note of the major key the music is in, and the 7th is ti.

Why is B called H in German?

German names B natural H and uses B for B flat. Early music wrote B flat as a round b and B natural as a square b, which German printers set as an h. Sharps add -is (Fis is F sharp) and flats add -es (Des is D flat), with Es and As for E flat and A flat.

What is the difference between fixed do and movable do?

In fixed do each syllable is one key of the piano: do is always C. In movable do the syllables are the steps of the scale: do is the key note, so in G major do is G and fa is C.

Learn to read music

Piano note names

Clefsight names the notes by letter, C D E F G A B, as English does. If you learned do re mi at school in France, Italy, Spain or Latin America, sol-fa from a singing teacher, or German letters with an H, here is every key of the piano in each, side by side.

Print it with Ctrl+P (⌘P on a Mac): the chart and the tables print, the rest of the page doesn't.

Middle C (C₄) to the C above it (C₅). In C major, fixed do and movable do name the same keys; in any other key movable do moves with the key (below).

Piano note names, from clefsight.com/learn/note-names. Read the notes at a MIDI keyboard there and every answer is timed.

Fixed do: do is always C

In Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese, the notes are named with syllables, and do is always C, whatever key the music is in. They are the same seven white keys as the letters, starting from C: C do, D re, E mi, F fa, G sol, A la and B si. Do's older name, ut, lives on in French key names: en ut majeur is C major.

A sharp or a flat is a word after the syllable: diesis, dièse, sostenido and sustenido for sharp, bemolle, bémol and bemol for flat. So fa diesis is F♯, and a piece in si bemolle maggiore is in B♭ major.

Every key of the octave, the black keys both as a sharp and as a flat
Letters	Italian	French	Spanish	Portuguese	German
C	do	do	do	dó	C
C♯	do diesis	do dièse	do sostenido	dó sustenido	Cis
D♭	re bemolle	ré bémol	re bemol	ré bemol	Des
D	re	ré	re	ré	D
D♯	re diesis	ré dièse	re sostenido	ré sustenido	Dis
E♭	mi bemolle	mi bémol	mi bemol	mi bemol	Es
E	mi	mi	mi	mi	E
F	fa	fa	fa	fá	F
F♯	fa diesis	fa dièse	fa sostenido	fá sustenido	Fis
G♭	sol bemolle	sol bémol	sol bemol	sol bemol	Ges
G	sol	sol	sol	sol	G
G♯	sol diesis	sol dièse	sol sostenido	sol sustenido	Gis
A♭	la bemolle	la bémol	la bemol	lá bemol	As
A	la	la	la	lá	A
A♯	la diesis	la dièse	la sostenido	lá sustenido	Ais
B♭	si bemolle	si bémol	si bemol	si bemol	B
B	si	si	si	si	H

The white keys have other names too: E♯ is the key F (Eis in German), B♯ is the key C (His in German), F♭ is the key E (Fes in German) and C♭ is the key B (Ces in German). Music spells a note that way when the key it is in needs that letter.

German: H is B, and B is B flat

German, and much of central and northern Europe, names the notes with letters too, but calls B natural H and uses B for B♭. So a German score's B is the key English calls B♭, and its H is B.

A sharp adds -is to the letter and a flat adds -es: Cis (C♯) and Fis (F♯); Des (D♭) and Ges (G♭). E flat and A flat drop the e: Es and As.

Key names put Dur (major) or Moll (minor) after the note, with a capital for a major key and a small letter for a minor one: B-Dur is B♭ major, h-Moll is B minor, Es-Dur is E♭ major and fis-Moll is F♯ minor.

The H goes back to how early music wrote its two Bs: a round b for B flat and a square one for B natural, which German printers came to set as an h.

German letters, with the English name beside each
Letter	Natural	Sharp	Flat
C	C C	Cis C♯	Ces C♭
D	D D	Dis D♯	Des D♭
E	E E	Eis E♯	Es E♭
F	F F	Fis F♯	Fes F♭
G	G G	Gis G♯	Ges G♭
A	A A	Ais A♯	As A♭
B	H B	His B♯	B B♭

Movable do: do is the key note

Singing teachers, and the Kodály and tonic sol-fa methods, name the steps of the scale instead of the keys: do re mi fa sol la ti. Do is the key note of the major key the music is in, so the syllables move with the key. In C major they fall on the same keys as fixed do; in G major do is G and fa is C. The 7th is ti, not si, so that every syllable starts with its own letter.

A note outside the key changes its vowel: raised a half step, a syllable ends in i (di, ri, fi, si and li); lowered, in e (ra, me, se, le and te), except re, which becomes ra. So in movable do si is sol raised, while in fixed do si is B.

In a minor key some teachers start the scale on la, keeping the syllables of the major key with the same signature; others call the minor key's own key note do.

Movable do in every major key
Key	do	re	mi	fa	sol	la	ti
C♭ major	C♭	D♭	E♭	F♭	G♭	A♭	B♭
G♭ major	G♭	A♭	B♭	C♭	D♭	E♭	F
D♭ major	D♭	E♭	F	G♭	A♭	B♭	C
A♭ major	A♭	B♭	C	D♭	E♭	F	G
E♭ major	E♭	F	G	A♭	B♭	C	D
B♭ major	B♭	C	D	E♭	F	G	A
F major	F	G	A	B♭	C	D	E
C major	C	D	E	F	G	A	B
G major	G	A	B	C	D	E	F♯
D major	D	E	F♯	G	A	B	C♯
A major	A	B	C♯	D	E	F♯	G♯
E major	E	F♯	G♯	A	B	C♯	D♯
B major	B	C♯	D♯	E	F♯	G♯	A♯
F♯ major	F♯	G♯	A♯	B	C♯	D♯	E♯
C♯ major	C♯	D♯	E♯	F♯	G♯	A♯	B♯

The notes between, raised and lowered, in every major key
Key	di	ra	ri	me	fi	se	si	le	li	te
C♭ major	C	D𝄫	D	E𝄫	F	G𝄫	G	A𝄫	A	B𝄫
G♭ major	G	A𝄫	A	B𝄫	C	D𝄫	D	E𝄫	E	F♭
D♭ major	D	E𝄫	E	F♭	G	A𝄫	A	B𝄫	B	C♭
A♭ major	A	B𝄫	B	C♭	D	E𝄫	E	F♭	F♯	G♭
E♭ major	E	F♭	F♯	G♭	A	B𝄫	B	C♭	C♯	D♭
B♭ major	B	C♭	C♯	D♭	E	F♭	F♯	G♭	G♯	A♭
F major	F♯	G♭	G♯	A♭	B	C♭	C♯	D♭	D♯	E♭
C major	C♯	D♭	D♯	E♭	F♯	G♭	G♯	A♭	A♯	B♭
G major	G♯	A♭	A♯	B♭	C♯	D♭	D♯	E♭	E♯	F
D major	D♯	E♭	E♯	F	G♯	A♭	A♯	B♭	B♯	C
A major	A♯	B♭	B♯	C	D♯	E♭	E♯	F	F𝄪	G
E major	E♯	F	F𝄪	G	A♯	B♭	B♯	C	C𝄪	D
B major	B♯	C	C𝄪	D	E♯	F	F𝄪	G	G𝄪	A
F♯ major	F𝄪	G	G𝄪	A	B♯	C	C𝄪	D	D𝄪	E
C♯ major	C𝄪	D	D𝄪	E	F𝄪	G	G𝄪	A	A𝄪	B

Which one will I see on a printed page?

Usually none of them. A note is printed by its place on the staff, the same in every country, and the music doesn't name it: where it sits is its name. Names turn up around the notes instead.

In titles, to name the key. 97 of the library's 419 pieces name a key in their title, in letters as English writes them. An edition printed in Germany, France, Italy, Spain or Brazil names the same keys its own way, so a piece in B♭ major is in B-Dur there: a German title in B is in B flat.

The keys the library's titles name, in each system
Letters	German	Italian	French	Spanish	Portuguese	Pieces
C major	C-Dur	do maggiore	do majeur	do mayor	dó maior	20
F major	F-Dur	fa maggiore	fa majeur	fa mayor	fá maior	12
G major	G-Dur	sol maggiore	sol majeur	sol mayor	sol maior	9
A major	A-Dur	la maggiore	la majeur	la mayor	lá maior	7
A minor	a-Moll	la minore	la mineur	la menor	lá menor	6
C minor	c-Moll	do minore	do mineur	do menor	dó menor	6
D major	D-Dur	re maggiore	ré majeur	re mayor	ré maior	6
G minor	g-Moll	sol minore	sol mineur	sol menor	sol menor	6
B♭ major	B-Dur	si bemolle maggiore	si bémol majeur	si bemol mayor	si bemol maior	5
F minor	f-Moll	fa minore	fa mineur	fa menor	fá menor	4
D minor	d-Moll	re minore	ré mineur	re menor	ré menor	3
E major	E-Dur	mi maggiore	mi majeur	mi mayor	mi maior	3
E minor	e-Moll	mi minore	mi mineur	mi menor	mi menor	3
B minor	h-Moll	si minore	si mineur	si menor	si menor	2
C♯ minor	cis-Moll	do diesis minore	do dièse mineur	do sostenido menor	dó sustenido menor	2
E♭ major	Es-Dur	mi bemolle maggiore	mi bémol majeur	mi bemol mayor	mi bemol maior	2
D♭ major	Des-Dur	re bemolle maggiore	ré bémol majeur	re bemol mayor	ré bemol maior	1

In chord symbols and letters by the notes. Of the 419 scores the library's pieces come from, 8 print chord symbols over the music, in letters, and 2 write letter names by the notes: The Entertainer and Ave Maria. Clefsight's page leaves these off, so here you name each note from the staff alone.

Now read them by letter at the keyboard. The grand staff drill shows one note at a time across both staves; play its key on a MIDI keyboard or the keys on screen as soon as you read it. Every answer is timed and goes on your reading map.

Start the drill

How to read the staves: How to read piano sheet music: the grand staff. Also printable: the piano notes chart, every note on the grand staff over its key, and the key signatures chart, every major and minor key by its signature.