Fundamentals of Music: Introduction

BRACE

BRACE

________: a sign at the beginning of the grand staff joining the treble and bass staves.

BAR LINE

________: a vertical line drawn at the beginning of the grand staff before the clef signs, and in the music to assist with counting.

Pitches descend consecutively

descending by steps

Pitches ascend consecutively

ascending by steps

DOUBLE BAR LINE

two bar lines at the end of the staff used to signify the end of a section of music

In music written for the keyboard, the right hand usually plays

middle C when it is written in the treble clef, and the left hand usually plays middle C when it is written in the bass clef.

The Grand Staff combines

both the treble and bass clefs.

Middle C names the ledger line

just below the treble clef and the ledger line just above the bass clef.

Singing, next to speaking, is

the second most important means of verbal communication.

Singing is important in all cultures around the world;

melodies run the gamut from religious songs to popular songs, including songs about love, work, nature, and family life.

Songs are used to inspire

(national anthems or college school songs) and to teach (how to count).

Songs mark celebrations

like weddings, rites of passage like bar and bat mitzvahs, as well as funerals and processions.

Singing is an important expressive form

of art along with painting, dancing, drama, poetry, and literature.

Singing, with its use of language, gives music

a distinctive artistic dimension. Singing, however, may be expressive, even without the use of words (for example, jazz scat singing).

Singing is an important aid in

the study of music theory and does not require additional resources for practice.

Musicians in many countries do not use the alphabet to name pitches;

instead, they use syllables, called solfège, or solfeggio

Guido d’Arezzo, a medieval monk, devised

a syllabic system (or possibly codified it) around the eleventh century. He used the first syllable of each line of a Latin hymn to name consecutive ascending pitches.

Music is

• a language consisting of sounds and silences.

Music is written with an alphabet consisting of

the letters A through G.

Each letter represents

a different sound or pitch.

Just as words consist of letters,

musical melodies consist of pitches.

When melodies ascend to higher pitches,

the alphabet moves forward from A to G.

When melodies descend to lower pitches,

the musical alphabet moves backward from G to A.