Introduction to Music Notation

Introduction to Musicical Notation

by Shawna Stewartson-Bennett

​Objectives

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

• ​Define musical notation

• List the parts of musical notation

• ​illustrate basic musical notes on a staff

Poll

Introductory Activity:

How much do you like music? 

Poll

Does music have a language? Can we read and write music?

• Yes

• No

Activity: Make your own music language

Listen to the sound in the next slide. Create symbols to represent the sound you are hearing. Try to account for the different pitches. Share your creation with the class.

​Musicical Notation: the Language of music

​Musical notation is the visual record of a musical sound or a set of visual instructions for the performance of music. 

So in this way, we can hear music but also see, read and write it as well.

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​Elements of Musical Notation

​Music Notation has numerous parts. The main parts of musical notation are:

1. The Staff​

2. ​The Bar/Measure

3. ​The Clef

4. ​The Time Signature

5. ​The Key Signature

6. ​Notes & Rests

Multiple Choice

Which of the following have three elements of the musical notation? 

• clef,

  staff,

  floor signature 

• notes and rests,

  clefs, 

  key measures

• time signature,

  bar/measure,

  staff

• notes and chairs,

  staff,

  key signatures

​The Staff

Staff, also spelled stave, are the five parallel horizontal lines that indicate the pitch of musical notes.

​

​The modern stave consists of 5 lines and 4 spaces. Note that the lines and space are counted from bottom to top.

​The Staff

​Each line and space indicates a different pitch. Starting from the bottom line, each space and line going up represents a higher pitch than the one before it.

​

Examine the pictures. Notice how we count each line and space in order to determine the change in pitch.

​

​These notes are three pitches apart

​These notes are six pitches apart

Multiple Choice

How many pitches apart are the notes in the picture?

• 5

• 4

• 6

• 7

Multiple Choice

How many pitches apart are the notes in the picture?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 0

Multiple Choice

How many pitches apart are the notes in the picture?

• 8

• 5

• 7

• 6

Multiple Choice

How many pitches apart are the notes in the picture?

• 8

• 5

• 7

• 6

Multiple Choice

Which of the following has the GREATEST change in pitch?

​Musical Notes

In music, a note is a symbol denoting a musical sound. A note is also treated as the sound itself. Notes can represent the pitch and duration. We will learn more about the types of musical notes next week. ​

​​The Staff

and notes

​The note's 'head' goes in space or on a line. Notes additional notes can be drawn outside of the staff using ledger lines. Like a book, music is read from left to right.

Activity: Jamboard Session

In the next slide, lets go to our jamboard and practice drawing our notes on the staff

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​Draw the staff and notes

​Practice drawing your staff with oval shaped notes as shown in the picture below. Remember to be NEAT!

Activity: let's play the scale according to the notes drawn

In the next slide. Let's play the scale we just worked on using our piano.

​We will be playing according to the G Clef that you learn about next week

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Summary

Fill in the Blanks

The staff has

lines. 

Fill in the Blanks

The staff has

spaces. 

Multiple Choice

Musical notation allows us to read and write music

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Ledger lines are additional lines used for notes that go beyond the staff lines

• True

• False