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| Highness or lowness of a tone. In music notation, pitches are represented by symbols positioned on a staff and identified with letter names. |
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The various pitches are referred to by the first seven letters of the alphabet (A B C D E F G)
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| A clef is a symbol placed at the beginning of a line of music that establishes the letter names of the lines and spaces of the staff. |
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| Also known as G clef is an ornate letter G. The curved line terminates at the second line of the staff, thus designating the letter name of a note on that line as G. |
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| Also is known as the F clef because it was derived from the letter F. The dots are placed above and below the fourth line of the staff, designating that line as F. |
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Together, the treble and bass staves make up a grand staff.
The Grand staff is most commonly associated with keyboard music.
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| The note that is directly between the Treble and Bass staves in a Grand Staff |
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| Pitches that go beyond the limits of the staff are written by adding ledger lines above or below the staff. Ledger Lines, which parallel the staff, accommodate only one note. |
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| A C clef may be positioned on any line of the staff to designate middle C. This clef is coupled with a set of secondary names that identify each of the possible positions soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor and baritone |
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| Alto Clef puts Middle C on the 3rd line(the very middle) |
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| Tenor Clef puts Middle C on the 4th line |
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| Soprano Clef puts Middle C on the 1st line |
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| Mezzo-Soprano puts Middle C on the 2nd line |
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| Baritone puts Middle C on the 5th line |
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Because the pitch spectrum is so wide, it is often necessary to identify a specific note by the octave in which it appears. Thus, Middle C is distinguished from any other C in the pitch spectrum by the written designation C4
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| Accidentals are symbols that are placed to the left of the noteheads to indicate the raising and lowering of a pitch |
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| (♯) Raising the pitch a half step |
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| (♭) lowers the pitch a half step |
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| (♮) cancels any previous sharp or flat and returns to the natural, or unaltered, pitch |
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| An interval is the relationship between two tones. In Western music, the half step is the smallest interval used. It is the interval between any two adjacent keys —black or white— on the keyboard |
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| Enharmonic equivalent equivalents are tones that have the same pitch but different letter names |
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In passages of music involving half step motion, a flatted note is followed most often by a note with a different letter name a half step lower.
A sharped note is followed most often by a note with a different letter name a half step higher in passages involving half-step motion. |
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| Sounds and silences in music are represented by notes and rests. The notation of duration— the length of time a note or rest lasts— is illustrated in the [image] |
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| Worth two whole notes/rests |
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| Worth two half notes/rests |
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| Worth two quarter notes/rests |
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| Worth two eighth notes/rests |
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| Worth two sixteenth notes/rests |
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| Worth two thirty-second notes/rests |
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| Thirty-Second Note and Rest |
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| Worth two sixty-fourth notes/rests |
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| Sixty-Fourth Note and Rest |
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| Worth two one hundred twenty-eighth notes/rests |
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| The Tie is a curved line that two adjacent notes of the same pitch into a single sound with a duration equal to the sum of both note values. |
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| Placed to the right of a note head, the dot lengthens the value of the note by half again its value(Dots may also be used with rests and affect them in the same way). |
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| A second dot lengthens the dotted note by half the length of the first dot. |
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| Irregular Divisions and Subdivisions |
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A note value may be divided or subdivided into any number of equal parts as shown in the chart. Those divisions and subdivisions that require added numbers are called irregular divisions and subdivisions.
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| Rhythm is a general term used to describe the motion of music in time. |
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| The fundamental unit of rhythm is the pulse or beat. Even persons untrained in music generally sense the pulse and may respond by tapping a foot or clapping. |
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| Meter can be defined as a regular, recurring pattern of strong and weak beats. |
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This recurring pattern of durations is identified at the beginning of a composition by a meter signature.
It has two numbers, one on top of the other. The upper digit indicates the number of basic note values per measure. It may not indicate the number of pulses per measure. The lower digit indicates a basic note value: 2 signifies a half note, 4 refers to a quarter note, 8 to an eighth note, and so forth.
Although meter is generally indicated by the time signature, it is important to realize that meter is not simply a matter of notation. |
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| In simple meter, each beat is divided in two parts(simple division). The upper numbers in simple meter signatures are usually 2, 3, or 4 indicating 2, 3, or 4 basic pulses. (Rhythm will not be dotted) |
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In compound meter, each pulse is a dotted note, which is divided into groups of three parts(compounded division). The upper numbers in compound meter signatures are usually 6, 9, and 12. In compound meter signatures, the lower number refers to the division of the beat, whereas the upper number indicates the number of these divisions per measure.
Note that the basic pulse in compound meter will be kind of dotted note value. |
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| Duple, Triple, and Quadruple Meters |
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| Both simple and compound meters will have two, three, or four recurring pulses. Meters are identified as duple if there and two basic pulses, triple if there are three, quadruple if there are four. These designations are often combined with the division names to describe a meter. 2/4 is a simple duple and 6/8 is a compound duple meter. |
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| The term asymmetrical means not symmetrical and applies to those meter signatures that indicate the pulse cannot be divided into equal groups of 2, 3, or 4 beats. The upper numbers in asymmetrical meters are usually 5 or 7. |
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| If a part of the measure that is usually unstressed is accented the rhythm is considered to be syncopated. |
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Dynamic Markings indicate the general volume of sound. Although imprecise, such marks denote approximate levels of intensity. the following words, abbreviations, and signs are common.
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| Not used for telling what the pitch or how long notes were. This was used just as a memory aid for recalling previously learned melodic lines. |
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| Mensural= Measured notation, a system that included durational values as well as pitch, developed during the 1300 century as the single melody and free rhythm of Gregorian Chant or plainsong gave way to measured music that included parts, descants, and later harmony and counter point. |
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| This is the notation we use currently and it changes now and then to better communicate the growing complexity of the music. This is based on the Mensural Notation, clefs and the shapes of notes have been big changes. |
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