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Locating Middle C
on a music keyboard
◼
“ Middle C ” is the note in the
middle of the grand staff.
◼ It's also the fourth C
key
(C4) from the left-hand side of an
88-key keyboard.
On shorter keyboards, however, middle C can be the 2nd or 3rd C from the left
(C2 or C3).
On a 61-key keyboard, it's usually C3.
But to know, for sure, which of the C keys is middle C, read on.
MIDI Middle C
In the Musical Instrument Digital Interface standard ( MIDI ),
middle C is assigned to
MIDI Note # 60.
There are 128 MIDI Notes, so Note # 60 is pretty close to the middle of
the range.
General MIDI
In the General MIDI protocol (GM), specific
musical instruments are assigned to specific program numbers.
For example, “ Honky-Tonk Piano ”
belongs to GM Program # 4.
When Program # 4 is selected, each keyboard key triggers one honky-tonk
note.
But non-chromatic, percussion instruments are different. In this
case, a Drum Kit is the program
and, instead of a note, each keyboard key plays one specific percussion sound in that drum kit.
Below is a chart of the drum sounds in a GM-compliant
drum kit, along with their assigned MIDI notes and numbers :
Click the Chart for a Printable PDF file
★ Notice that Middle C
( MIDI Note # 60 ) is assigned
to a “ Bongo Hi ” sound.
So…
To find middle C on any keyboard, just
call up a drum kit and find the
C key that plays a high-pitched bongo sound !!!
NOTE:
In the chart, middle C is labeled C3, which is correct
for a 61-key keyboard. Other keyboards, however, can have middle
C elsewhere — at C2 or C4,
for example.
If so, simply adjust the chart's note octave numbers to match your keyboard.
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