Music Notation Basics

Music Basics

• Beat is the constant pulse of the music, which signifies the speed of the song and helps performers keep time.

Rhythm and Measures

• Rhythm refers to patterns of sounds and silences that can change throughout a song to add variety.
• A measure is a group of notes between barlines.
• Barlines are the lines on the staff that divide the notes into measures.

Time Signature

• A time signature is denoted by two stacked numbers on the left of the staff, to the right of the clef.
• The top number indicates how many beats are in a measure, while the bottom number indicates what note gets the beat.

Note Durations

• A dot adds half of the original value to the length of a note.
• A tie connects two notes on the same line or space to lengthen a note.
• The curve of a tie is curved in the opposite direction as the stem of the notes it is attached to.

Pitch and Staff

• Pitch refers to the highness or lowness of sound, or the specific note being played.
• The musical alphabet includes seven letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, which are repeated.
• A staff consists of five lines and four spaces where music symbols are written or placed.
• A clef is a symbol placed on the left side of the staff that indicates the pitches written on the staff following it.

Treble and Bass Clef

• The treble clef, also known as the G clef, has a loop that crosses the second line from the bottom, which is the G above middle C.
• The bass clef, also known as the F clef, has two dots that place F on the second line from the top below middle C.

Grand Staff and Note Types

• The Grand Staff is a combination of staff lines with a treble clef and staff lines with a bass clef, used by piano players.
• Whole note is the longest note, equal to 4 beats.
• Half note is equal to half of a whole note, or 2 beats.
• Quarter note is a quarter of a whole note, or half of a half note, or 1 beat.
• Eighth note is an eighth of a whole note, a fourth of a half note, or a half of a quarter note, or half a beat in length.

Noteheads, Stems, and Flags

• A notehead is the circle or oval shape that indicates the placement of the note on the staff.
• A stem is the line attached to the notehead, whose direction is determined by the placement of the notehead on the staff.
• A flag is the curved line attached to the stem of an eighth note, distinguishing it as an eighth note.

Beams and Rests

• A beam connects two or more eighth notes next to each other on the staff in a measure, eliminating the need for flags.
• A rest is a symbol for silence in music, with different rest types for every note type (e.g., whole rest, half rest, quarter rest, etc.).