INSTRUMENTS |
Normally,
written music is set up on a staff made up of five lines. At the start of
the music is a clef. In the example above you see a treble clef. The
clef dictates what pitch is on what line. But that's later; for now, let's look at
what else is on a staff. The barlines go up and down, and they separate the
music into measures. The time signature tells us how many beats
are in each measure. "What are beats?" you ask? Keep reading: RHYTHM Music is generally felt in pulses. These pulses are called beats, and the written music represents these beats with different figures. A whole note is looks like an oval shape, and it lasts four beats. Thus you play one note while counting to four in your head. The whole rest also last four beats, but instead of playing a note, you leave silence while counting to four. The half note looks identical to the whole note, except that there is a stem attached to the oval. And it lasts half as long as the whole note : two beats. And, of course, the half rest lasts for two beats. The whole rest and half rest look similar, but notice that the whole rest is hanging down, while the half rest is sitting up. Quarter notes and quarter rests last for (you guessed it!) one beat. Eighth notes and eighths rests last for only half of one beat. Instead of just counting to four, many people count "one and two and three and four and". Using this method, it is easier for people to play the notes evenly. Many people also tap their foot when playing music. One's foot should tap with the beat, NOT with the eighth notes. Just think "down up" instead of "one and". This way the beat isn't as likely to speed up or slow down. There are other rhythms, but
I'll introduce those later. These various rhythms can be combined in any
order, and can be played on any pitch. How do you differentiate between
pitches? Read on:
Pitches are determined by which line or space the note (whole, half, quarter, or otherwise), sits upon. It is important to notice that there are both lines and spaces being used by the notes. Also notice that I have added the bass clef. This is a little confusing, but basically here is why we need more clefs: There are so many pitches, we cannot fit them onto just five lines and four spaces. So we can go a little up and down using ledger lines (see the line through the middle C, above?) but it gets very difficult to read with eight or nine lines! So we have another set of lines below the treble clef. Usually the left hand of a pianist plays the bass clef and the right hand plays the treble clef. The whole notes shown are both the same note: middle C. Each one is closer to either the treble or bass clef simply for ease of reading. |