3 ms·

But what do you mean by "natural notes of the scale"? Why is it those notes that are in C and not the others?

• sbilstein 11y ago
  it's defined somewhat arbitrarily but those 7 notes are the notes of the C Major scale. If you just pay them in sequence, that is the scale. Western music is based around 12 tones, but each scale only has 7 of those tones. A piano with black keys allows you to play in any key/scale (based around semitones) since all 12 tones are present but only 7 constitute the major scale.
• phaemon 11y ago
  By the "natural notes" I just mean the notes that would make up an octave in that key, like "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do" in whatever key you like. On a piano, the long (white) keys are tuned to C for that. If you start on a D and just play the white notes up, it won't sound right. If you're asking "why is it tuned to C", it's probably because C is the key that historically was assigned the letters without any sharps or flats. There's no physical reason for this, it's just a convention (as opposed to, say, octaves, where each octave is half the frequency of the previous). If you're asking why C got the letters without sharps or flats, I believe you have the Romans to blame for that. They did start with A for their scale without sharps or flats, but it was what we would now call "A minor". Which leaves C as the major scale.