Music is written on a staff comprised of five lines and four spaces. The position of the
notes placed on the staff translates to the sounds of those notes, i.e., low or high notes. Notes
placed higher on the staff have a higher pitch than those placed lower. Lines and spaces are
numbered from low to high, starting at the bottom. Each staff has a clef at the beginning of it.
The treble clef, also known as the G clef, is drawn such as to establish the G note of the staff.
There are various sayings that help with the retention of the names of the lines and spaces
of the treble staff. The lines can be represented by “Every Good Boy Does Fine”, the first letters
of each word representing the notes of those lines. The spaces can be represented by “FACE”,
each letter representing the notes of those spaces. The staff can also have a bass clef, which when
drawn at the start of the staff, establishes the F note on the 4th line of the staff.
There are
various sayings that help with the retention of the names of the lines and spaces of the bass staff.
The lines can be represented by “Good Boys Do Fine Always”, the first letters of each word
representing the notes of those lines. The spaces can be represented by “All Cows Eat Grass”, the
first letters of each word representing the notes of those spaces. Different types of notes
represent how long or short a musical sound is. A whole note is drawn as a horizontal oval and
equals four beats and is equivalent to two half notes or four quarter notes.
A half note is
drawn as a smaller circle and equals two beats and is equivalent to two quarter notes. A quarter
note is drawn as a solid smaller circle and is equal to one beat. Half and quarter notes are drawn
with stems. A stem is drawn on the right side of the note head and goes up for a note below the
third line on the staff and is drawn on the left side of the note head and goes down for notes on or
below the third line on the staff.
Music is divided into measures, which are equal
parts along the staff. Bar lines delineate the beginning and end of each measure, the distance
between showing the length of the measure. The end of a musical piece is shown by a double bar
line, which is comprised of a thin line followed by a thick one closing the staff.
Each piece
of music has a time signature which is placed at the beginning of the staff, after the treble or bass
clef. They have two numbers, the top shows the beats in each measure and the bottom, the kind
of note that receives one beat. In
time, there are four beats in each measure and a quarter
notes gets one beat. A treble and bass staff can be joined by a brace. A brace is drawn by a
straight line joining the two staffs and a curved line drawn just before it. When combined, the
staff are called the grand staff.
A leger line is a small line added above or below either the
treble or bass staffs. The middle C note is drawn on the leger line of the grand staff. Leger lines
can extend a treble or bass staff upwards or downwards.
Musical rests represent musical
silences and they represent the duration of those silences. A whole rest is drawn as a solid short
line on the bottom of the fourth line of the staff and is equal to four beats, and is equal to two
half rests and four quarter rests.
A half rest if drawn as a solid short line at the top of the
third line of the staff is equal to two beats, and is also equal to two quarter
rest receives one beat and is drawn as
sounds and silences in a composition. In
rests. A quarter
on the staff. Rests combined with notes produces the
time, there are two beats in each measure and a
quarter note or rest gets one beat and a half note or rest gets two beats. In the
time
signature, there are three beats in each measure and a quarter note or rest gets one beat and a half
note or rest gets two beats. A dot placed after a half note adds half of the note’s original value. A
half note, which has two beats, will have three beats if there is a dot placed after it.
Adjacent notes of the same pitch can be connected via a curved line called a tie.
When a
tie is in place, the tone is held as though the two notes are one. Notes of different pitches can be
connected via a curved line called a slur.
A slur indicates that no spaces between note
should be played; it should be played smoothly and without interruption from the beginning to
ending note of the slur. Two dots placed just before a double bar line is a repeat which indicates
that one should return to the beginning and play the musical sequence again.
Sometimes,
you repeat back to another repeat sign. The repeat sign tells you to go back to the beginning but
after you do so and when you arrive at the repeat sign again, you do not go back yet again, you
continue to the next part or ending.
added to the stem.
An eighth note looks like a quarter note with a flag
Two eighth notes equals one quarter note, four eighth notes equals one
half note and eight eighth notes equals one whole note. In
time, an eighth note gets half of a
beat. An eighth rest is drawn with a solid dot in the third space and an attached, slightly diagonal
line extending from the bottom of the fourth line to the top of the second line.
Two eighth
rests equal one quarter rest, court eighth rests equals one half rest, and eight eighth rests equals
one whole
rest. In time, one eighth rest equals half of a beat. A dot after a quarter note adds
half of the original value to the count. So, a dotted quarter note equals one and a half counts.