Section 1

Fundamentals of Music

Piano Keyboard

Various Octave Registers

The Grand Staff

By combining the treble and bass staves we can write from the lowest note to the highest
note:
Clefs

The first symbol on the staff is the clef. The more often used clefs are

Treble Clef or G Clef: The small loop is placed over the G line

Names of lines and spaces

Treble Clef

Lines: Every Good Boy Does Fine or Elvis Guitar Broke Down Friday

Spaces: FACE

Bass Clef or F Clef: the : is placed over the F line

Bass Clef

Lines: Great Big Dogs From America or Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always

Spaces: All Cows Eat Grass

The C Clefs

In addition to the treble and bass clefs there are several C clefs in which middle C is assigned
to the 1st line (soprano clef), 2nd line (mezzo-soprano clef), 3rd line (or alto clef), or 4th line
(tenor clef). The alto clef is commonly used by the viola.

Alto Clef:

Tenor Clef

A complete list of clefs:

Note Values

Parts of a Note include:

Note Head

Stem

Flag or bar
RHYTHM NOTATION CHART

US name British name Note Rest Beat Duration Values

Double
Breve 8 Two whole notes
Whole

Two Half Notes

Whole Semibreve 4 or a half of a
Double Whole Note

Two Quarter Notes

Half Minim 2 or a half of a
Whole Note

Two Eighth Notes

Quarter Crotchet 1 or a half of a
Half Note

Two Sixteenth Notes

Eighth Quaver One-half or a half of a
Quarter Note

Two 32nd Notes

Sixteenth Semiquaver One-quarter or a half of an
Eighth Note

Two 64th Notes

32nd Demisemiquaver One-eighth or a half of a
Sixteenth Note

Half of a
64th Hemidemisemiquaver One-sixteenth
32nd Note

One-thirty-
128th Semihemidemisemiquaver Half of a 64th note
second
Simple Time Signatures

Top number tells the number of beats in a measure

Bottom number tells the kind of note that gets a beat

2 beats per measure

3 beats per measure

4 beats per measure

Scales

Order of Half-steps and Whole-steps in a Major Scale

WWHWWWH

Notice how strongly the second to the last note, the B, needs to resolve to the tonic C. When
a certain tone has a strong pull toward another, we call it a tendency tone. Notes that are
only a half-step apart commonly function as tendency tones. Notice that the 4th scale
degree, F, also is only a half-step from E. However, since scale degree 7 pulls toward the
most stable pitch, the tonic, it is the most important tendency tone.
 Major Scale Degree Names

Degree
Name Name Meaning Solfege
Number

1 Tonic First degree; key note Do

7 Leading Tone/Sub Tonic One below tonic .5/1 step Ti/Te

6 Submediant A third below tonic La

5 Dominant P5 above the tonic Sol

4 Subdominant P5 below the tonic Fa

3 Mediant A third above tonic Mi

2 Supertonic Above the tonic Re

1 Tonic First degree; key note Do

Introduction to Sight Singing

 Flats Name Sharps

Do

Ti

Te Li

La

Le Si

Sol

Se Fi

Fa

Mi

Me Ri

Re

Ra Di

Do

Circle of 5ths...
Order of Sharps:

FCGDAEB

Factor Common Greatest D A E B

Order of Flats:

BEADGCF

BEAD Greatest Common Factor

Order of Thirds:

CEGBDFAC
Piano Keyboard

C D F G A
sharp sharp sharp sharp sharp

D E G A B
flat flat flat flat flat

D E F G A B
C

Relative Minor/Major - Have the same Key Signature

Parallel Minor/Major - Have the same Tonic

Natural Minor Scale

WHWWHWW

Harmonic Minor Scale

 W H W W H (W+H) H (7 raised half step)

Melodic Minor Scale

Ascending W H W W W W H (6 and 7 raised)

Descending W H W W H W W (Like the Natural Minor)

Church or Gregorian Modes

Ionian (Major Scale)

Dorian

Phrygian
Lydian

Mixolydian

Aeolian (Natural Minor Scale)

Locrian

Other types of scales...

The Chromatic scale has 12 notes. In the chromatic scale, every interval is a half step.

The Whole-tone scale has six notes separated from one another by a whole step.

The Pentatonic scale is formed from five notes (from the Greek pente: five). In a pentatonic
scale, only five of the possible pitches within an octave are used. (So the scale will repeat
starting at the sixth tone.) The most common pentatonic scale is what you get when you play
the "black keys" on a piano.

Section 1 – Vocabulary
Music Theory – The study of how music is put together

Pitch – The highness or lowness of a tone

Duration – Length of time that a sound or silence last

Rhythm – A set or sequence of durations

Beat – Regular reoccurring series of pulsations

Tempo – Rate or speed of the beat

Staff – Five horizontal, parallel lines resulting in four equal-distant spaces

Bar lines - Vertical lines on the staff

Measure - Distance between bar lines

Notation – Written music indicating pitch and rhythm

Scale – A progression of notes in a specific order.

Solfeggio, Solfege – For ear training and sight singing, singing the degrees of the scale with syllables
(i.e. do, re, mi, etc.)

Clef – The symbol at the beginning of a staff that indicates which lines and spaces represent which
pitches

Treble Clef – The symbol that marks the G-line on the staff

Bass Clef – The symbol that marks the F-line on the staff

Alto Clef – The symbol that marks the pitch C on the staff

Grand Staff – The combination of the treble and bass clef

Ledger Lines - Lines added above and below the staff

Key Signature – A pattern of sharps or flats that appears at the beginning of a staff and indicates
that certain notes are to be raised or lowered.

Half-step (H) – The shortest distance between two pitches

Whole-step (W) – The distance between two pitches with one pitch in between

Enharmonic - Notes that are spelled differently but sound the same.

Sharp # – Raises a pitch by a half-step

Double Sharp x – Raises a pitch by a whole-step

Flat b – Lowers a pitch by a half-step

Double Flat bb – Lowers a pitch by a whole-step

Natural n – The music symbol that indicates that a note that is neither sharp nor flat;

Accidentals – Sharps, flats, or natural signs used to raise, lower, or return a note to the normal pitch.

Degree – A note of a scale identified by a name or number

Diatonic – The notes indigenous to a key in a scale

Major Scale – An octave encompassing the following half-step and whole-step

configuration: WWHWWWH

Parallel Keys – Major and minor keys having the same key note (tonic).

Relative Keys – Major and minor keys that share the same key signature.

Natural Minor Scale – An octave encompassing the following half-step and whole-step configuration:
WHWWHWW

Harmonic Minor Scale – An octave encompassing the following half-step and whole- step configuration:
WHWWHWH (the 7th scale degree is raised from the natural minor)

Melodic Minor Scale – An octave encompassing the following half-step and whole-step configuration:

(Ascending) WHWWWWH (the 6th and 7th scale degree is raised from the natural minor scale)

(Descending) WWHWWHW (the 6th and 7th scale degree is lowered from ascending version)

Mode – A type of scale with a specific arrangement of intervals (See Mode Chart)