Transcript Lesson 1 – Beginning Music

Being comfortable with music as a
Song Leader
The Staff:
 Five lines and four spaces, indicating which
pitch to play
 Vertical lines break the staff in to sections,
called measures
The Clefs:
 A symbol that determines the range of notes
played on the staff
 Found at the beginning of every staff
 Two main clefs: Treble and Bass
The Clefs: Treble
 Indicates higher notes, the top half of a piano
 Called the G clef
The Clefs: Bass
 Indicates lower notes, the bottom half of the
piano
 Called the F clef
The Grand Staff
 When the Treble Clef and the Bass Clef are
linked together you have a Grand Staff
The Grand Staff
 Here is another look at a Grand Staff
Note Names
 Each line and space in a staff has a name,
corresponding to a certain note
 Names differ between Treble and Bass clefs
Note Names: Treble
 Lines: E, G, B, D, and F
(Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge)
 Spaces: F, A, C, and E
(FACE)
Note Names: Bass
 Lines: G, B, D, F, and A
(Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always)
 Spaces: A, C, E, and G
(All Cows Eat Grass)
Other Clefs: Percussion
 Used for percussion instruments, on a single
line staff, or sometimes a five line staff too
Other Clefs: C clefs
 Called the movable clef
 Whichever line is in the middle of the clef
symbol, that line is middle C
Notes
 Symbols used to designates pitches and
rhythms in music
 Position in staff determines pitch
 Shape of note determines rhythm (duration)
Notes: Types
 Whole Note: four beats

Half Note: two beats (half of a whole note)
Notes: Types
 Quarter Note: one beat (quarter of a whole
note, half of a half note)

Eighth note: half a beat (hopefully by now you
see the pattern
Notes: Types
 Notes continue in to sixteenth and thirtysecond notes, but we don’t sing anything
beyond a sixteenth note.
The Dot!
Dotted notes
 Adding a dote to a note multiplies its duration
by 1.5
 Add half of the notes value to itself
w = 4 beats
h
= 1 beat
q
= ½ beat
e
= ¼ beat
x
= 2 beats
w = w+ h
.
h = h+ q
=
+
.
q q e
=
+
.
e e x
.
Rests
 Just like a note, but stand for silence instead of
a played pitch
Time Signature
 A set of stacked numbers that determines the
meter of the music
 Top Number: number of beats in a measure
 Bottom Number: size of a note that determines
what a single beat is
Time Signature: Denominator explained
 Bottom number is the note determining the
beat (pulse)
 Common time: bottom number is a 4, so a
quarter note equals the beat
 So, if the bottom number is 8, an eighth note is
the pulse/beat of the music
Keys and the Circle of Fifths
 Key is an arranged pattern of notes that
correspond to a tonic pitch
 12 major keys, 12 minor keys
Key Signature
 Symbols that indicate what they key of the
music is
 Designated by sharps or flats at the beginning
of every staff
 Sharps raise a pitch, flats lower a pitch
#=
b=
raise
lower
n = undoes a sharp or flat
Sharps and Flats last for every note in the
measure.
When a new measure begins, the accidental is
deactivated.
You have to know this as a singer
Sharps and Flats
 Order of Flats: B E A D G C F

Order of Sharps: F C G D E A B
Key of C# Major
Key of Cb Major
Sharps and Flats
 Order of Flats: B E A D G C F

Order of Sharps: F C G D E A B
How the sharps and flats are supposed to help
you read the music
The key of C has no sharps or flats
When you put the song in the key of G every F
in the music will automatically be sharp or
raised a ½ step.
The key of G has one sharp ---- F#
#
#
Without the key signature the sheet music
would appear very busy
From this
To this
Examine “Singing I Go”
The key of C has no sharps or flats
When you put the song in the key of G every F
in the music will automatically be sharp or
raised a ½ step.
The key of G has one sharp ---- F#
#
#
Without the key signature the sheet music
would appear very busy
From this
To this
Now lets put the song in it’s original hymn book
key of A flat
b
b
b
b
The key of A flat has 4 flats ---- B
E
A
D
Without the key signature the sheet music
would appear very busy
From this
To this
Put it all together (staff, clef sign, notes, measures,
key signature, time signature), and you have
some simple music.