This technically inaccurate practice has led some pedagogues to encourage standardizing on C 4 as the definitive MiddleВ C in instructional materials across all instruments. C 4 may be called LowВ C by someone playing a Western concert flute, which has a higher and narrower playing range than the piano, while C 5 (523.251В Hz) would be MiddleВ C. While the expression MiddleВ C is generally clear across instruments and clefs, some musicians naturally use the term to refer to the C note in the middle of their specific instrument's range. Middle C (the fourth C key from left on a standard 88-key piano keyboard) is designated C 4 in scientific pitch notation, and cвЂІ in Helmholtz pitch notation it is note number 60 in MIDI notation.

A movement to restore the older A435 standard has used the banners 'Verdi tuning', 'philosophical pitch' or the easily confused scientific pitch.

After the A440 pitch standard was adopted by musicians, the Acoustical Society of America published new frequency tables for scientific use. Scientific pitch was originally proposed in 1713 by French physicist Joseph Sauveur and based on the numerically convenient frequency of 256В Hz for middle C, all C's being powers of two. For an instrument in equal temperament tuned to the A440 pitch standard widely adopted in 1939, middle C has a frequency around 261.63В Hz (for other notes see piano key frequencies).

C&c 3