teachers

Musical Notation Basics

• Staff – Five horizontal lines on which music is notated.

• Stave – Another term for staff (plural: staves).

Time Signature

• Found at the beginning of a piece of sheet music.

• Looks like a fraction:

• Top number – How many beats are in a bar.

• Bottom number – The value of each beat (e.g., 4 = quarter note, 8 = eighth note).

Clefs

• Treble Clef (𝄞) – Indicates higher-pitched notes.

• Bass Clef (𝄢) – Indicates lower-pitched notes.

• Clefs determine the register (pitch range) in which the music is played.

• Always written at the beginning of a staff.

Tempo & Rhythm

• Tempo – Dictates the speed of a piece of music.

• Metronome – Used to indicate and maintain tempo.

• Rhythm – Organization of beats within a bar, based on strong and weak beats.

• Syncopation – A rhythmic pattern that emphasizes the “and” count (offbeat).

• Accent – Light and shade within a piece of music, indicating a slightly heavier sound on certain beats.

Common Time Signatures

• 2/4 – Two beats per bar.

• 4/4 – Four beats per bar (common time).

• 3/4 – Known as simple triple time (used in waltz, balance steps, and triple runs).