Music history is irrevocably tied to music notation. The invention of music notation meant that music could be preserved and performers were not limited by memory or improvisational skills. Indeed, discussion of music before 1900 and the advent of audio recording would be nearly impossible without reference to music scores.
The Roman Catholic Church was the driving force behind the development of music notation in Western Europe. Prior to music notation, liturgical music was handed down as an oral tradition and, thus, subject to the ravages of memory and interpretation. Music notation, aside from the educational and historical benefits, aided in maintaining a unified liturgy across the far flung empire of the Roman Catholic Church.
Pitch and Rhythm
The main properties symbolized by modern music notation are pitch and rhythm. The first music notation to symbolize both pitch and rhythm was created by a cleric and music theorist, Franco of Cologne, c. 1250.
After Franco's revelation, there were many twists and turns in the development of notation but by the late seventeenth century musicians were using modern music notation, also known as staff notation.
Staff Notation
Fluent reading of staff notation takes years of practice, so mastery of this topic is not the goal here. Our purpose is to engender appreciation of the abilities and role of music notation. To appreciate music notation, you need to understand the basic principles. If you know the alphabet from A to G, understand fractions, and are able to count to four, you are ready to explore music notation!
Staff Notation | Johann Sebastian Bach's son, Johann Christian, copied his father's manuscript of French Suite No. 1 (BWV 812). | Library of Congress
Notes
Musical tones are written as graphical symbols called notes. The pitch of a musical tone is represented by its position on a staff. Notes are oval shaped symbols to which a stem, flags or beams can be added:
Staff
The staff is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces:
Notes are placed on the staff to indicate pitch. The staff is like a ladder: the higher the placement of a note, the higher the resulting pitch. However, unlike a ladder, both the lines and the spaces between the lines serve as steps.
Clef
At the beginning of the staff is a symbol called a treble or G clef.
The G clef indicates the position of the note G: the scroll of the clef wraps around the second line from the bottom, fixing that line as G.
Other clefs exist for different instruments and pitch ranges.
Note Names
In the United States, the first seven letters of the alphabet—A B C D E F G—are used to name the notes. Most other countries use solfège: do, re, mi, etc. These seven letters are repeated across the entire pitch range: A B C D E F G A B C, etc.
Note Placement on Piano Keyboard
Children's Mnemonic Device
Chant "Every Good Boy Does Fine" to remember the names of the lines and FACE to spell out the spaces.
When moving up the staff—higher in pitch—count through the alphabet. When moving down the staff—lower in pitch—count backwards through the alphabet:
In the graphic below, notes replace the letter labels. Play the audio and observe how pitch rises as the flute plays each note:
Octave
The interval (distance) between two notes with the same name but eight notes apart is called an octave (e.g., D-D or E-E above). Sing this scale: do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do. The interval from do to do is an octave.
Note Values
Note durations are indicated by the type of note head and the use of stems, flags or beams. Stems may point up or down for the same duration.
Remember the fraction cake from elementary school? You learned that four quarters equal a whole, two quarters equal a half, two eighths equal a quarter, etc.
Fraction Cake | A cake with one quarter (1/4) removed. | Wikimedia Commons
The names and values of note durations are derived from simple fractions. For example, a quarter note is half as long as a half note. The chart below illustrates the "fraction cake" relationship between note values: whole note equals the entire cake, two half notes equal a whole, four quarter notes equal a whole, etc.
To make rhythmic reading easier, beams replace the flag in groups of eighth note or shorter durations.
Measures
The staff is divided into groups of beats called measures. Measures are separated by a vertical line called a bar line. A double bar line signifies the end of a section.
Meter
Each measure contains a repeating pattern of stressed and unstressed beats known as meter. The three most common meters are:
Duple meter, two beats in a strong-weak pattern, 1-2 (e.g., 2/4)
Triple meter, three beats in a strong-weak-weak pattern, 1-2-3 (e.g., 3/4)
Quadruple meter, four beats in a strong-weak-secondary strong-weak pattern, 1-2-3-4 (e.g., 4/4)
Meter Signature
At the beginning of a musical score, after the clef, are two numbers known as the meter signature (also time signature).
The top number of the meter signature is both the meter and number of beats in a measure. Thus, 3 on top indicates triple meter and 3 beats per measure.
The bottom number of meter signatures indicates the note value equal to 1 beat. Thus, the 4 on the bottom designates a quarter note as equal to 1 beat.
Note Values in Beats
Now that you know the quarter note is equal to 1 beat, you can calculate other note durations using proportions derived from fractions. For example, if a quarter note equals 1 beat, a half note equals 2 beats, a whole note equals 4 beats, etc.
The most practical approach is to memorize beat values. These note durations are valid for quarter note meters such as 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4:
Counting Rhythm
For note durations equal to the beat or longer, count the meter aloud as you clap or play the rhythms. For example, count 1-2-3-4 in 4/4 meter, 1-2-3 in 3/4 meter and 1-2 in 2/4 meter. Align the note durations with the numbers as you count.
Each audio track has a metronome countdown and the musical exercise repeats three times. Let's give it a try:
Exercise A | Count 1-2 aloud as you clap the rhythms.
The "how to" video below walks you through the rhythms of Exercise A. This video was created for my guitar class—hence the guitar playing at the end—but the principles of counting rhythm are universal. If you play guitar, you're welcome to join in at the end. If you play 'ukulele, use the open second string (E string) to play along. Don't play guitar or 'ukulele? Count the beats and clap the rhythms.
Da Beat Thing "How to" Video | Peter Kun Frary
Counting Division
When a beat is divided into two equal parts the resulting rhythm is called division. To count division, say “and” between beat numbers. When spoken evenly, these two syllables create the rhythm of division. Division is notated as eighth notes in quarter note meters such as 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4.
Exercise B | Speak beat numbers as you clap the beat.
Rhythm Words
Words create rhythms when spoken while clapping the beat. In the above exercise, a one-syllable word, eat, represents quarter notes (equal to the beat), and a two-syllable, su-shi, simulates eighth notes (division of the beat).
Study Questions
1. What does this meter signature mean? [answers below]
2. What are the letter names of the staff spaces?
3. What are the letter names of the staff lines?
4. Identify the letter names of the notes below:
Optional Studies
The last section of this chapter, Singing Exercise, is optional and will not be included in the tests or quizzes. However, a basic knowledge of sight singing will enhance your understanding of the music studied during this semester.
Singing Exercise
Let's put pitch and rhythm together. Instead of singing words, use solfège, i.e., do, re, mi, etc., syllables. Solfège syllables were invented in the medieval Catholic Church to teach singing. First, sing this scale using the solfège syllables do, re, mi, fa, so, la ti, do until it's cemented in your mind:
Major Scale | Sing with solfège syllables.
Locate the pitch mi or (e) with your voice. It's the third note in the scale. Sing up three scale tones from do if you can't remember it. Now sing the melody below beginning on mi. All the pitches flow stepwise up and down the scale: mi, mi, fa, so, etc. Clap the beat and sing one note per beat for the quarter notes (black note heads) and two beats for the half notes at the end of each line.
Ode to Joy | Sing with solfège.
Congratulations you read music! With practice, you can learn to jump from any tone in the scale, e.g., do to so. Eventually singing is not needed to model sounds: music heard in your head may be written down with the same ease as composing a text message. Some composers—Beethoven and Smetana—created their finest works after hearing loss because they could imagine music in their heads and notate it.
Staff Notation
Clef
Note Values
Measures
Meter
Note Values in Beats
Counting Rhythm
Counting Division
Rhythm Words
Optional Studies
Answers
