Why Music Notes Are Named After Letters

Patrick Foote of Name Explain embarked on a quest to understand why musical notes have been historically named after letters of the alphabet worldwide. While Foote doesn’t have a specific answer, he does provide a few logical theories.

My leading theory is that just kind of makes sense to use letters. In the past, as is the case now, letters were commonly understood symbols, making them easy to read and write for almost everyone. It seems way more practical to use existing symbols like letters rather than creating entirely new ones for use in music.