Musical Notes: Names in the Latin and Anglo-Saxon Systems

Why two naming systems exist

If you have ever searched for tabs, tutorials, or sheet music online, you have probably come across something puzzling: some sites name chords Do, Re, Mi, while others use single letters — A, B, C, D, E, F, G — as if they were a secret code. This is neither a mistake nor an oddity: these are two naming systems that coexist in Western music, and a guitarist today needs to handle both as naturally as reading a map in two languages.

Neither one is right and the other wrong. One is the system you likely learned at school — the Latin system — and the other is the one you will find in almost all professional material in English, in chord charts, in DAWs, and in music apps. Knowing both is not an academic formality: it is a practical tool that will open up a vast amount of resources to you.

The Latin system: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si

The Latin system uses syllables to name the seven notes of the scale. Its origin dates back to the 11th century, when Guido of Arezzo took the opening syllables of the hymn Ut queant laxis and assigned them to the six tones of his hexachord: Ut — Re — Mi — Fa — Sol — La.

Over time, Ut was replaced by Do and Si was added to complete the seventh note. The system became: Do · Re · Mi · Fa · Sol · La · Si.

This system is the standard in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Latin America, and most of the Spanish-speaking and French-speaking world.

The Anglo-Saxon system: A, B, C, D, E, F, G

The Anglo-Saxon system uses letters of the Latin alphabet, starting with A — which corresponded to La — and continuing to G. The system became standard in the English-speaking world.

The correspondence: Do=C · Re=D · Mi=E · Fa=F · Sol=G · La=A · Si=B. The sequence starts at A=La, not A=Do. When you see C major, you are looking at Do major; Am is La minor.

An exception worth knowing: German nomenclature

In German, B natural is called H and B flat is called B. Bach signed several works with his own name as a musical motif — B · A · C · H — corresponding to B flat · A · C · B natural. A signature hidden in sound.

If you read analyses of German music or come across scores using this nomenclature, you will know how to recognise it.

How both systems coexist in guitar playing

In your day-to-day practice, you will use both systems depending on context. Chord charts almost always use letters: Cmaj7, Dm7b5, G7. DAWs label notes with letters — C3, D4, A2. Tuners show E when you tune the sixth string to Mi.

Standard guitar tuning: E · A · D · G · B · E in the Anglo-Saxon system, Mi · La · Re · Sol · Si · Mi in the Latin system. Same guitar, same sound.

How to learn both systems at once

Every time you read or hear a note name in one system, mentally translate it into the other. Not to memorise a table, but to build the double association naturally. After a short while, G and Sol will be the same thing in your mind.

A concrete exercise: say the name of each open string in both systems out loud while you pluck it. Mi — E. La — A. Re — D. Sol — G. Si — B. Mi — E. The sound anchors the name.

"Music is the only universal language that needs no translation — but its note names do." — Anonymous

Related resources

On the Guitar Trainer platform you will find note recognition exercises directly related to this post. Once you confirm which exercises are available, they will be linked here.

The next step

Now you know that Sol and G are the same note. But where exactly are those notes on your guitar? In the next post we will turn names into specific locations on the fretboard, transforming abstract knowledge into a map you can navigate with your fingers.