Musical Terms
6th Grade Keyboard Unit
Essential Music Terms
Music Literacy
Literacy means “to Learn to Read”
 Music Literacy means “To Learn to Read
Music”
 Music is a language of symbols.
 We will be learning and improving our
Music Literacy Skills this trimester through
music reading practice and playing the
keyboards.
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Staff
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The staff is a set of
five lines and four
spaces.
Music notes are
written ON the lines
or IN the spaces to
indicate pitch and
duration.
The Staff lines & spaces
Treble Clef
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Used for higher pitched
notes, instruments and
voices
Placed at the left end of
the staff
Also called the G Clef
because the final curl is
around the second line
or G pitched line.
Bass Clef
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Used for lower notes,
instruments and voices
Placed at the
beginning (left side) of
the staff
Also called the F clef
because the two dots
are on either side of
the F line
Pitch
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Pitch – the highness or lowness of a tone (note)
Pitches are indicated on the staff using the first
seven letters of the alphabet: ABCDEFG
The lines and spaces in the treble and bass clef
have letter names.
When a note is place ON a line or IN a space it
tells the musician what key to play on their
instrument or how high or low to sing
Treble Clef Pitch Names
To remember the lines think of this saying:
Every Good Boy Does Fine
For the spaces remember the word FACE
Bass Clef Pitch Names
To help you remember the
lines of when the bass clef
symbol is present:
Glad Bags Don’t Fall
Apart
To help you remember the
Space in the bass clef:
All Cows Eat Grass
Duration
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Duration means
length of time
Notes have duration
names and special
shapes that tell
musicians how long
or short to play that
notes.
4 Beats
1 Beat
Eighth Note
½ Beat
Rests
Rests
are silence in
music.
To create rhythms a
musician uses both
pitches (sounds) and
rests (silence)
A whole note and a
whole rest receive the
same duration– 4
beats of sound or 4
beats of silence
More Rest
Examples
The Grand Staff
•The Grand Staff consists
of both the Treble and the
Bass
•Clef Symbols and
pitches. The two staves
are connected with
•Bar line and a bracket.
•Both Hands are in the
ready to play position!
Notes Between the staves in the
Grand Staff
Notes with stems pointing down are
ALWAYS PLAYED WITH THE LEFT
HAND
Notes with the stems pointing up are
ALWAYS PLAYED WITH THE RIGHT
HAND
The Piano Keyboard
Left Hand
Right Hand
How to use your hands?
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Beginner sheet music often has numbers below
each note. These numbers refer to fingers on
your hands.
BOTH HANDS: 1 – thumb
2 – index finger
3 – middle finger
4–
ring finger
5 – little finger
Melody
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Melody is an
organized group of
tones.
If it is a memorable
tune, with lots of
repetition you’ll
remember it… like
“Row, Row, Row
Your Boat”!
Harmony
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Harmony is a
combination of tones
sounded together.
The basic unit of
harmony is a chord,
where two or more
tones are played at
the same time.
Rhythm
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Rhythm divides time in
musical pieces using a
combination of sound
and silence
Tempo
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Tempo is how fast or
slow music is played.
Italian is the language
used for these terms:
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Largo = Very Slow
Andante = At a Walking
Speed
Moderato = A medium
speed (faster than
Andante)
Vivace = Very Fast
Dynamics
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Dynamics are how loudly
or softly the music is
played.
Italian terms used to
indicate dynamics:
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Piano = Soft
Mezzo piano – medium soft
Forte = Loud
Mezzo forte = medium loud
Crescendo = gradually get louder
Decrescendo = gradually get softer
Famous Piano Players
Lady Ga Ga
Beethoven
Billy Joel
Elton John
Alicia
Keys
Jerry Lee
Lewis
Ray Charles
George
Gershwin