The seventh octave is the highest
octave of a
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
.
Using
middle C (C4) as a guide, the next higher C is C5 or tenor C. The next C is C6 or soprano high C. The next C, C7 or double high C, is again one octave higher. C7 is eight steps away from the last note on the 88-key piano:
C8. C7 is also the highest note on most other keyboard instruments. The seventh octave is the range of notes between C7 and C8. It is easier for very high
coloratura sopranos to sing in this octave, but some people who are capable of singing in the bass range (like singers
Adam Lopez, Virgo Degan,
Nicola Sedda or
Dimash Kudaibergen
Dinmuhammed Kanatuly Kudaibergen ( kk, Дінмұхаммед Қанатұлы Құдайберген, ''Dınmūhammed Qanatūly Qūdaibergen''), born 24 May 1994, known professionally as Dimash Qudaibergen, is a Kazakh singer, songwriter, and ...
) can do it. While notes in the sixth octave, between soprano high C and C7, can have enough color to sound flutey or canary-like, the squeaky, whistly tones in the seventh octave help give the
whistle register
The whistle register (also called the flute register or flageolet register) is the highest register of the human voice, lying above the modal register and falsetto register. This register has a specific physiological production that is different f ...
its name, as do the piercing qualities of notes in this octave.
Pitch (music)
{{Music-theory-stub