Music Basics

Music Basics #1

All you need to know to start!

The Staff

Each musical staff is made up of five lines. Here, you see two staffs. The top staff has a Treble Clef, and the bottom has a Bass Clef. For each staff, you will start at the bottom to determine the note names.

Lines and spaces

Space notes are empty, with the lines touching them at the top and bottom

Line notes have a line running through them, with nothing touching the top and bottom.

The Musical Alphabet

The musical alphabet is ABCDEFG. It flows up the musical staff alternating line notes and space notes.

On the next slides are quick ways to learn the names of the notes.

Note Names:

Treble Clef

Start from the bottom, always!

Line notes = EGBDF

Every Good Boy Does Fine

Space notes = FACE

Space rhymes with FACE

Note Names:

Bass Clef

Start from the bottom, always!

Line notes = GBDFA

Good Boys Do Fine Always

Space notes = ACEG

All Cows Eat Grass or

All Cars Eat Gas

Note Values

• Whole notes and rests get 4 beats

• Half notes and rests get 2 beats

• Quarter notes and rests get 1 beat

• Eighth notes and rests get 1/2 beat

• UNLESS there are 2 eighth notes connected by a beam - they are stuck together and can be treated as 1 beat

Labeling Rhythms

To label a beat where a note begins, use a large number.

For notes with more than one beat, the first one will get a large number, while the rest get small ones.

Rests should be numbered with (parentheses) around them.

Counting Rhythms

Clap and count for the beginning sound of each note.

For notes with more than one beat, hold your hands together after clapping, and bounce the to keep the pulse.

Reverse clap for rests by pulling your hands apart.

Keyboard Basics

• To find the note C, find the group of two black keys, and it is directly to the left.

• Each white key can be labeled using the musical alphabet, which continuously repeats.

Accidentals

• An accidental is a sharp, flat, or natural

• Sharps raise a note by a half step

• Flats lower a note by a half step

• Naturals return the note to its natural state

• Accidentals often, but not always, refer to black keys on the piano

Naming Black Keys

• Each black key has two possible names, determined by the note on each side of it.

• The white key to the left of the black key is being raised a half step, so you would call it that note's name with an added sharp.

• The white key to the right of the black key is being lowered a half step, so you would call it that note's name with an added flat.