INTRODUCTION to PITCH LETTER NAMES
The seven musical note names are: A B C D E F G - repeating endlessly
- Once you hit G, go back to A and started it all over again
- The note names do not exceed G
- An octave is when you go throught the musical alphabet once to get to the same note you started
on
Example:
The seven musical note names are: A B C D E F G - repeating endlessly
- Once you hit G, go back to A and started it all over again
- The note names do not exceed G
- An octave is when you go throught the musical alphabet once to get to the same note you started
on
Example:
THE PIANO KEYBOARD
- The white keys correspond to the seven letters of the musical alphabet
- Immediately to the left of any group of two black keys is pitch class C
- Immediately to the left of any group of three black keys is pitch class F
- Middle C is the most used reference point - it's the closet C to the middle of the piano
- Black keys immediately above (to the right of) any white key makes that white note's name sharp
(examples: C#, D#, F#)
- Black keys immediately below (to the left of) any white key makes that white note's name flat
(examples: Eb, Gb, Ab)
- This means every black key has to possible note names
(those notes are enharmonic [same note, different name]) (examples: A# = Bb)
- The sharp (#) and flat (♭)symbols are called "accidentals" - though there is nothing accidental about them
- Another common accidental is a natural (♮) which cancels out any sharp or flat, it returns the pitch to it's
"natural" state - back to the white key on the keyboard
- Accidentals are always written to the left of the note and to the right of the note name
- White Keys
- The white keys correspond to the seven letters of the musical alphabet
- Immediately to the left of any group of two black keys is pitch class C
- Immediately to the left of any group of three black keys is pitch class F
- Middle C is the most used reference point - it's the closet C to the middle of the piano
- Black Keys: Flats and Sharps
- Black keys immediately above (to the right of) any white key makes that white note's name sharp
(examples: C#, D#, F#)
- Black keys immediately below (to the left of) any white key makes that white note's name flat
(examples: Eb, Gb, Ab)
- This means every black key has to possible note names
(those notes are enharmonic [same note, different name]) (examples: A# = Bb)
- The sharp (#) and flat (♭)symbols are called "accidentals" - though there is nothing accidental about them
- Another common accidental is a natural (♮) which cancels out any sharp or flat, it returns the pitch to it's
"natural" state - back to the white key on the keyboard
- Accidentals are always written to the left of the note and to the right of the note name
- Enharmonic Equivalants
- Not all sharped or flatted pitches are black keys, if you raise an E or B to closest possible note on the keyboard, you get a white key
- E# = F :: B# = C :: Cb = B :: Fb = E
- Intervals: Half steps and Whole Steps
- Two intervals that serve as basic building blocks of music are half and whole steps
- A half step is the interval between any pitch and the next closest pitch on the keyboard
- A whole step is the combination of two half steps
- On a keyboard, a half step spans from a white note to a black one and vice versa, while a whole step spans from white to white or black to black
{Summary: The distance between any two notes is an interval. Two important intervals are half and whole steps. Half steps span keys of different colors (exceptions are E-F and B-C). Whole steps span keys the same color (exceptions are Eb-F, E-F#, Bb-C, and B-C#)}
- Double Flats and Sharps
- A double sharp (x) raises a pitch a whole step above its letter name
- A double flat (bb) raises a pitch a whole step below its letter name
Example: Gbb and F are enharmonic, as are Ax and B
Reading Pitches from a Score
- Early staves had a variable number of lines but modern lines consist of exactly 5 lines and 4 spaces - which read
from bottom to top
staff)
- The clef tells which line or space represents which pitch (in which octave)
- The treble clef is used for highger notes (those played by piano's right hand or higher instruments and voices)
- Also called the G-clef: It's shape resembles a cursive capitol G
- Ledger lines are short lines used to write notes lower or higher than the staff
clef
- This clef resembles a cursive capital F and its two dots surround the line that represents F
- C-clef is a "movable" clef; it's distinctive shape identifies middle C by the point on the staff at which the two
curved lines join together in the middle
- Depending on it's position, it may be called a sporano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, or baritone clef
- Majority of modern scores use alto and tenor C-clefs
- Musicians read different clefs because each one corresponds to the range of ptiches needed for a particular
instrument or voice type
- In choral scores, the tenor's voice part is often notated using a treble clef witha small "8" beneath it, known as
the choral tenor clef, these ptiches are read down an octave
- Staff Notation
- Early staves had a variable number of lines but modern lines consist of exactly 5 lines and 4 spaces - which read
from bottom to top
- Treble Cleff
staff)
- The clef tells which line or space represents which pitch (in which octave)
- The treble clef is used for highger notes (those played by piano's right hand or higher instruments and voices)
- Also called the G-clef: It's shape resembles a cursive capitol G
- Ledger lines are short lines used to write notes lower or higher than the staff
- Bass Clef
clef
- This clef resembles a cursive capital F and its two dots surround the line that represents F
- C-Clefs
- C-clef is a "movable" clef; it's distinctive shape identifies middle C by the point on the staff at which the two
curved lines join together in the middle
- Depending on it's position, it may be called a sporano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, or baritone clef
- Majority of modern scores use alto and tenor C-clefs
- Musicians read different clefs because each one corresponds to the range of ptiches needed for a particular
instrument or voice type
- In choral scores, the tenor's voice part is often notated using a treble clef witha small "8" beneath it, known as
the choral tenor clef, these ptiches are read down an octave
- Naming Registers
- Ledger Lines
by a curly brace)
- Ledger lines are short markes written above or below the staff for notes that do not fit on the staff
- You read ledger lines the same way you do the rest of the staff
- Notes higher than the staff have ledger lines drawn through them or below them, never above
- Notes lower than the staff have ledger lines drawn through them or above them, never below
- Draw ledger lines the same distance apart as the regular staff lines
- An alternative to ledger lines is the ottawva sign (8v)
- If above the staff, it means to play an octave higher (8va)
- If below the staff, it means to play an ocatve lower (8vb)
- Writing Pitches on a Score
- Most notes are attached to thin vertical lines, called stems, that extend above or below the note head
- If the note lies below the middle line of the staff, the stem goes up on the right side of the note head
- If a note lies above the middle line, its stem goes down on the left side of the note head
(if the note is ON the middle line, it usually has the stem going down
Dynamic Markings
- Dynamic indication: this tells a performer how loud or soft to play
- Dynamic indication: this tells a performer how loud or soft to play