Basically, Music
(a class on music basics)
Class 1: Staffs, Voices, Keys and Shaped Notes
In church hymnals there are typically two staffs. Each staff consists of 5 lines and four spaces.
Where a note is placed on the staff designates its pitch. Pitch is stated by a letter designator of A,
B, C, D, E, F and G.
The top staff holds the notes for women’s voices and is know as the Treble Staff and uses the
symbol & call the ‘Treble’ or ‘G’ clef.
called the
‘G’ clef
because
the swirl
designates
where the
note ‘G’ is
located on
the staff
For choral and church music there a typically two sets of notes displayed on this staff, the top notes
are sung by women’s higher voices called Sopranos. This line of notes is also called the ”lead” or
“melody” although there are times when the melody is given to one of the other voices. The lower
notes are sung by the women’s lower voices called the Altos and comprises of one of the three
harmony voices used in church music.
top notes are sung by the Soprano or lead (melody)
20 - We Worship and Adore You
bottom notes are sung by the Altos
176 - Lamb of God
sometimes the Soprano and Alto sing the same notes (pitch)
The bottom staff holds the notes for men’s voices and is know as the Bass Staff and uses the
? call the ‘Bass’ or ‘F’ clef.
symbol
called the
‘F’ clef
because
the two
dots
surround
where the
note ‘F’ is
located on
the staff
There are also two sets of notes displayed on this staff, the top notes are sung by men’s higher
voices called Tenors. The lower notes are sung by men’s lower voices called the Basses and
comprises of two of the harmony voices used in church music.
top notes are sung by the Tenors
20 - We Worship and Adore You
bottom notes are sung by the Basses
96 - I Stand In Awe
sometimes the Tenor and Bass sing the same notes (pitch)
There are times when all four voices sing the same note (but not pitch), this is singing in Unison
979 - I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
Not all notes in a song can be contained within the staff. Notes that are put above or below the staff
for a particular voice uses short “ledger” lines. Typically only the Altos and Tenors voices use ledger
lines.
ledger line in the Alto voice
ledger line in the Tenor voice
72 – Blessed Be The Lord God Almighty
Typical church music today comprises of four voice groups: Bass, Tenor, Alto and Soprano.
The voice you sing depends mostly on the comfortable range of your voice.
spaces are F-A-C-E and is
easily be remembered by the
spelling of “face”
lines are E-G-B-D-F and is
easily remembered by
“Every Good Boy Does
Fine”
spaces are A-C-E-G and is
easily be remembered by
“All Cows Eat Grass”
lines are G-B-D-F-A and is
easily remembered by
“Good Boys Do Fine
Always”
When songs are written, the author will compose it in a key signature. The key chosen is more a
matter of the pitch-level than anything else, in other words, is it sung in a high pitch or low pitch. A
couple of examples is He Is Able (213) which is pitched in a lower key compared to Have You Seen
Jesus My Lord? (214). Key signatures are sort of relative in some congregations where the worship
leaders don’t always “pitch” the song in the written key, but whether it is in the right key or not
doesn’t make the song sound different or weird. It will sound the same but only at a higher or lower
pitch. Songs we sing in church today are written in one of two types of key signatures, major and
minor. The difference is in the “steps” between the notes.
Major scales are in steps of 1-1-1/2-1-1-1-1/2, minor scales steps are 1-1/2-1-1-1/2-1-1.
Our “western” ears are more use to a song written in a major scale since it is more easy to learn.
Minor scale songs we sing sound “unusual”, examples are Awesome God (38), Sing Hallelujah to
the Lord (242), The Battle Belongs to the Lord (749), The Name of God (812) and I Am a Poor
Wayfaring Stranger (979).
Keys Signatures use the symbols called sharps or flats,
a sharp (
a flat (
# ) will raise the pitch of the note by ½ step,
b ) will lower the note by ½ step.
Key signatures are shown at the beginning of the song and only appear elsewhere if a key change
is made. An example of a song with a key change is Glory (168).
168 – Glory
Sometimes the worship leader will change the key of a song on the last verse. It is technically
called “modulate” but simply is just raising the pitch of the song. This effect is mostly done for an
aesthetic reason to make the last verse “fresh”- almost like singing a new song.
Key signatures and names that are used for most of the songs in the our book.
The key signature shows which notes are to be sharp or flat throughout the song-
so that they don’t have to be printed beside each note.
71 – As the Deer
71 – As the Deer
Although the key signature shows what notes should be sharp or flat there are still times when the
#
b
composer wants to “sharp” ( ) or “flat” ( ) a note within the music. This a note will have a sharp
or flat symbol next to it. This is called an accidental.
20 - We Worship and Adore You
159 - You Are My God
Sometimes a composer will want to raise or lower the pitch of a note that is affected by the key
n
signature, a “natural” ( ) symbol is used next to the note. A natural will lower the pitch of a sharp’d
note and raise the pitch of a flat’d note.
222 - There’s Something About That Name
Shaped notes are used almost exclusively in church hymnals and songbooks. If you can
learn the shapes and the steps between the shapes then you can sight-sing any song at
any pitch.
(doe-ray-mee-fah-so-lah-tee)
te
(doe-tay-tee-lah-lay-so-say-fah-mee-may-ray-rah-doe)
(doe-dee-ray-ree-mee-fah-fee-so-see-lah-lee-tee-doe)
Shaped Notes - if you look at many of the songs in our book, you will see that the parts
will start on one of three notes DO – RE – MI, with the Bass line starting on DO.
MI
DO
SO
DO
577 – We Bow Down
MI
DO
SO
DO
221 – Jesus, Name Above All Names
The worship leader will sometimes sound the DO on a pitch pipe and sing DO-MI-SODO before starting a song. This gives all parts their starting pitch.
DO –
Q
MI –
DO
E
SO –
T
DO -
Q
MI
SO
DO
77 – Glorify Thy Name
Shaped Notes - if you look at many of the songs in our book, you will see that the
Soprano (lead) and Bass line end on DO, while the Alto and Tenor ends on SO or MI.
DO
MI
SO
DO
577 – We Bow Down
DO
SO
MI
DO
221 – Jesus, Name Above All Names
MI FA SO
DO
RE DO TI DO FA LA
LA DO TI SO
DO LA
DO SO SO
RE SO SO
DO
DO
RE
FA
SO
DO
SO LA SO
DO
DO RE DO
MI
448 – The Greatest Commands