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Sumi Vora
Mickey Hansen
Sumi Vora
Mickey Hansen
Welcome to the language of music! In order to read and understand this new language, you will be introduced to various symbols that have specific meanings. Like any new language, by learning these symbols and their meanings, you will be able to converse in the language of music. Let's dive in!
Look at this short example of music:
The top series of 5 lines is called the treble clef 🎼, and the bottom one is called the bass clef. They each have their individual symbol:
All pitches on a line or space of the staff correspond with a letter name, and range from A to G.
We "read" treble clef and bass clef differently. That means that the middle line of the treble clef will signify a different note than the middle line of the bass clef.
Let's start by identifying notes on the treble clef.
There are several ways to remember all the different lines and spaces on the treble clef. Many people use a mnemonic device to remember the order of the lines (E-G-B-D-F). For example, the age-old sentence is: "Every Good Boy Does Fine." If that is familiar and it works for you great, but here are some other examples:
For the music theory exam, you will eventually have to write some music, meaning that you will have to draw the treble and bass clefs. These never have to be perfect, but there are some things that you should know in order to draw the clefs correctly.
For the treble clef, notice that the swirly curls around the G line, and it touches the B and the E lines, but doesn't go beyond them. Also notice that the top of the treble clef goes above the staff.
For the bass clef, notice that the clef does not go higher than the A and does not go lower than the B, and notice that the swirl starts exactly at the F line. A common mistake is to take the bass clef all the way down towards the G, but this would be incorrect.
There are also pitches that are indicated outside of the parameters of the staves themselves. Take a look.
Just like on the regular staff, you count the spaces and lines the same when continuing the alphabet upwards on the staff.
Identify the notes below.
Now take a look at the image below and determine the last notes.
While most instruments read in the treble or bass clefs, there are some instruments who use the alto and tenor clefs, aka the "c" clefs. You will do most of your musical writing using the grand staff, so you don't have to be super comfortable with writing in the c clefs, but you may encounter a few multiple choice questions that use these clefs.
Only the viola uses alto clef, although historically, alto clef was also used by altos in a choir (hence the name). Here is what an alto clef looks like:
Tenor clef is quite similar to alto clef, but Middle C is on the fourth line, so tenor clef is used for notating slightly lower registers. Cello and bassoon generally use tenor clef. Just like alto clef, the middle C is in between the C's on the clef, so even if you forget which one is alto clef and which one is tenor clef, you will still be able to read the notes.
Let's take a look again at the original example of music we first saw.
Now that you know how to read notes, it is time to learn about intervals. An interval is the space between two notes. These notes can be played together or separately, but there will only be two of them. If there are three or more notes, then it is a chord, which we will learn about later.
A melody is a sequence of notes combined with a rhythm. A melody will have specific notes, but the melody that we recognize often has more to do with the intervals, or the space between the notes. For example, you might think of the melody of "Happy Birthday." Each time you hear "Happy Birthday," it might start on a slightly different pitch. However, you will still recognize the melody because of the way that pitches are organized relative to one another. This is called relative pitch.
After we learn more, we will be able to identify specific intervals (e.g. minor 3rd, major 6th, etc.). There will be a section on the exam where you will hear a melody and you will have to notate it given a specific starting note, meaning that you only need to have relative pitch. There will also be a section on the exam where you have to sight-sing a given melody, which is a skill that also utilizes relative pitch.
Relative pitch is a skill that you develop over time. You have to train your ears to be able to discern certain intervals. Chances are, if you have been playing music for a while, you might already have good relative pitch for certain intervals. For example, if you're a violinist, it might be easy for you to recognize perfect 5ths, because you use them to tune your violin. However, more obscure intervals might be harder to recognize. We recommend practicing relative pitch early on - this is not a skill that you can cram for!
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Sumi Vora
Mickey Hansen
Sumi Vora
Mickey Hansen
Welcome to the language of music! In order to read and understand this new language, you will be introduced to various symbols that have specific meanings. Like any new language, by learning these symbols and their meanings, you will be able to converse in the language of music. Let's dive in!
Look at this short example of music:
The top series of 5 lines is called the treble clef 🎼, and the bottom one is called the bass clef. They each have their individual symbol:
All pitches on a line or space of the staff correspond with a letter name, and range from A to G.
We "read" treble clef and bass clef differently. That means that the middle line of the treble clef will signify a different note than the middle line of the bass clef.
Let's start by identifying notes on the treble clef.
There are several ways to remember all the different lines and spaces on the treble clef. Many people use a mnemonic device to remember the order of the lines (E-G-B-D-F). For example, the age-old sentence is: "Every Good Boy Does Fine." If that is familiar and it works for you great, but here are some other examples:
For the music theory exam, you will eventually have to write some music, meaning that you will have to draw the treble and bass clefs. These never have to be perfect, but there are some things that you should know in order to draw the clefs correctly.
For the treble clef, notice that the swirly curls around the G line, and it touches the B and the E lines, but doesn't go beyond them. Also notice that the top of the treble clef goes above the staff.
For the bass clef, notice that the clef does not go higher than the A and does not go lower than the B, and notice that the swirl starts exactly at the F line. A common mistake is to take the bass clef all the way down towards the G, but this would be incorrect.
There are also pitches that are indicated outside of the parameters of the staves themselves. Take a look.
Just like on the regular staff, you count the spaces and lines the same when continuing the alphabet upwards on the staff.
Identify the notes below.
Now take a look at the image below and determine the last notes.
While most instruments read in the treble or bass clefs, there are some instruments who use the alto and tenor clefs, aka the "c" clefs. You will do most of your musical writing using the grand staff, so you don't have to be super comfortable with writing in the c clefs, but you may encounter a few multiple choice questions that use these clefs.
Only the viola uses alto clef, although historically, alto clef was also used by altos in a choir (hence the name). Here is what an alto clef looks like:
Tenor clef is quite similar to alto clef, but Middle C is on the fourth line, so tenor clef is used for notating slightly lower registers. Cello and bassoon generally use tenor clef. Just like alto clef, the middle C is in between the C's on the clef, so even if you forget which one is alto clef and which one is tenor clef, you will still be able to read the notes.
Let's take a look again at the original example of music we first saw.
Now that you know how to read notes, it is time to learn about intervals. An interval is the space between two notes. These notes can be played together or separately, but there will only be two of them. If there are three or more notes, then it is a chord, which we will learn about later.
A melody is a sequence of notes combined with a rhythm. A melody will have specific notes, but the melody that we recognize often has more to do with the intervals, or the space between the notes. For example, you might think of the melody of "Happy Birthday." Each time you hear "Happy Birthday," it might start on a slightly different pitch. However, you will still recognize the melody because of the way that pitches are organized relative to one another. This is called relative pitch.
After we learn more, we will be able to identify specific intervals (e.g. minor 3rd, major 6th, etc.). There will be a section on the exam where you will hear a melody and you will have to notate it given a specific starting note, meaning that you only need to have relative pitch. There will also be a section on the exam where you have to sight-sing a given melody, which is a skill that also utilizes relative pitch.
Relative pitch is a skill that you develop over time. You have to train your ears to be able to discern certain intervals. Chances are, if you have been playing music for a while, you might already have good relative pitch for certain intervals. For example, if you're a violinist, it might be easy for you to recognize perfect 5ths, because you use them to tune your violin. However, more obscure intervals might be harder to recognize. We recommend practicing relative pitch early on - this is not a skill that you can cram for!
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