The staff is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch. Notes are placed on the lines and in the spaces.
Clefs are symbols at the beginning of the staff that determine the pitch of the notes on the staff. The most common clefs are the Treble Clef and the Bass Clef.
- Treble Clef: Also known as the G clef, it wraps around the second line of the staff, indicating that this line is the note G above middle C.
- Bass Clef: Also known as the F clef, it has two dots above and below the fourth line of the staff, indicating that this line is the note F below middle C.
Ledger lines are short lines added above or below the staff to extend its range. They allow for the notation of pitches that fall outside the range of the standard five-line staff.
Notes have different durations, which indicate how long they should be held. The most common note durations are:
- Whole Note: A note held for four beats.
- Half Note: A note held for two beats.
- Quarter Note: A note held for one beat.
- Eighth Note: A note held for half a beat.
- Sixteenth Note: A note held for a quarter of a beat.
Each note duration has a corresponding rest, which indicates a period of silence for the same length of time.
A dot after a note increases its duration by half of its original value. For example, a dotted half note is held for three beats (two beats for the half note plus one additional beat).
A tie is a curved line that connects two notes of the same pitch, indicating that they should be played as a single note with a duration equal to the sum of both notes.
Steps refer to the distance between two pitches. There are two types of steps:
- Whole Step: The distance between two notes with one note in between (e.g., C to D).
- Half Step: The distance between two adjacent notes (e.g., E to F).
Accidentals are symbols that alter the pitch of a note. The most common accidentals are:
- Sharp (#): Raises the pitch of a note by a half step.
- Flat (b): Lowers the pitch of a note by a half step.
- Natural (♮): Cancels a previous sharp or flat.
Measures (or bars) are segments of time defined by a given number of beats. Measures are separated by vertical bar lines on the staff.
Time signatures are notations at the beginning of a piece of music that indicate the number of beats in each measure and the note value that gets one beat. They consist of two numbers:
- Top Number: Indicates the number of beats in each measure.
- Bottom Number: Indicates the note value that gets one beat (e.g., 4 for quarter notes, 8 for eighth notes).
Common time signatures include:
- 4/4: Four quarter note beats per measure (common time).
- 3/4: Three quarter note beats per measure.
- 2/4: Two quarter note beats per measure.
- 6/8: Six eighth note beats per measure.
Simple meter is a time signature where each beat is divided into two equal parts. Common simple meters include 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4.
- Duple Meter: Two beats per measure (e.g., 2/4).
- Triple Meter: Three beats per measure (e.g., 3/4).
- Quadruple Meter: Four beats per measure (e.g., 4/4).
Compound meter is a time signature where each beat is divided into three equal parts. Common compound meters include 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8.
- Compound Duple Meter: Two beats per measure, each divided into three parts (e.g., 6/8).
- Compound Triple Meter: Three beats per measure, each divided into three parts (e.g., 9/8).
- Compound Quadruple Meter: Four beats per measure, each divided into three parts (e.g., 12/8).
Odd meter is a time signature that does not fit into the usual simple or compound categories, and contains a combination of simple and compound beats. These meters have an irregular number of beats per measure, such as 5/4, 7/8, or 11/8.
A scale is a sequence of notes in ascending or descending order. The most common scales are the major and minor scales.
- Major Scale: A seven-note scale with a specific pattern of whole and half steps (W-W-H-W-W-W-H).
- Minor Scale: A seven-note scale with three variations, each with a different pattern of whole and half steps.
- Natural Minor Scale: Natural minor scales follow the pattern of (W-H-W-W-H-W-W) or 212-2122.
- Harmonic Minor Scale: Harmonic minor scales follow the same pattern as natural minor scales except it raises the seventh note by a half-step resulting in the pattern (W‑H‑W‑W‑H‑3Hs‑H) or 212-2131.
- Melodic Minor Scale: Melodic minor scales follow the same pattern as natural minor scales except it raises both the sixth and seventh notes by a half step resulting in the pattern (W-H-W-W-W-W-H) or 212-2221.
A scale is a sequence of notes in ascending or descending order. The most common scales are the major and minor scales.
- Major Scale: A seven-note scale with a specific pattern of whole and half steps (W-W-H-W-W-W-H).
- Minor Scale: A seven-note scale with three variations, each with a different pattern of whole and half steps.
- Natural Minor Scale: Natural minor scales follow the pattern of (W-H-W-W-H-W-W) or 212-2122.
- Harmonic Minor Scale: Harmonic minor scales follow the same pattern as natural minor scales except it raises the seventh note by a half-step resulting in the pattern (W‑H‑W‑W‑H‑3Hs‑H) or 212-2131.
- Melodic Minor Scale: Melodic minor scales follow the same pattern as natural minor scales except it raises both the sixth and seventh notes by a half step resulting in the pattern (W-H-W-W-W-W-H) or 212-2221.
Note how in the number pattern it always adds up to 12 thus ending a full octave (12 half steps) above the root.
Scale degrees are the names given to the different notes of a scale. Each degree has a specific name and function within the scale. In a major scale, the degrees are as follows:
- Tonic: The first note of the scale, the root.
- Supertonic: The second (latin for above) note of the scale.
- Mediant: The third note of the scale. (Middle of the tonic and dominant)
- Subdominant: The fourth note of the scale.
- Dominant: The fifth note of the scale.
- Submediant: The sixth note of the scale. (Middle of the subdominant and the upper tonic)
- Leading Tone: The seventh note of the scale, leading back to the tonic.
- Tonic: The last note of the scale.
Notice how the subdominant is the same distance below the upper tonic as the dominant is above the root tonic. A number with a caret may also be used to indicate the scale degree. For example the dominant could be notated as 5̂.
In a natural minor scale, the seventh degree is called the Subtonic instead of the Leading Tone.
A key signature is a set of sharp or flat symbols placed at the beginning of a staff to indicate the key of the music. It tells the musician which notes are to be played sharp or flat throughout the piece.
- Sharp Key Signatures: Indicate that certain notes are to be played a half step higher.
- Flat Key Signatures: Indicate that certain notes are to be played a half step lower.
Note how in the number pattern it always adds up to 12 thus ending a full octave (12 half steps) above the root.
A key signature is a set of sharp or flat symbols placed at the beginning of a staff to indicate the key of the music. It tells the musician which notes are to be played sharp or flat throughout the piece. Use the below chart to reference key signatures for both the treble and bass clefs.
-
Flat Key Signatures: Indicate that certain notes are to be played a half step lower. The flats in the key signature are placed in a specific order and can be remembered with the mnemonic Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father.
B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭ -
Sharp Key Signatures: Indicate that certain notes are to be played a half step higher. The sharps in the key signature are placed in the opposite order of the flat key signature and can be remembered with the mneumonic Father Charles' Goes Down And Ends Battle.
F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯
30 differenent key signatures exist. 15 for major scales and 15 for minor scales. Using the key signature calculation method you only need to remember 7 to calculate the rest. In the calculation method each key signature is assigned a numerical value based on the number and type of accidentals. Sharps are positive (going up in pitch) and flats are negative (going down in pitch).
- C Major has no accidentals, so its value is 0
- D Major has two sharps, so its value is 2
- E Major has four sharps, so its value is 4
- F Major has one flat, so its value is -1
- G Major has one sharp, so its value is 1
- A Major has three sharps, so its value is 3
- B Major has five sharps, so its value is 5
To calculate any flat/sharp major keys associated with any note X, you add 7 to get the X♯ major key signature and subtract 7 to get the X♭ major key signature. For example, if we start with the C Major key signature, we add 7 to get the C♯ Major key signature of 7 (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯), and conversely, if we subtract 7, we get the C♭ Major key signature of -7 (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭).
To calculate any minor key signature you simply subtract three from its major counterpart. For example, the C Minor key signature would be C Major, or 0 minus 3 to get -3. So it would be (B♭, E♭, A♭). The flat/sharp minor key signatures simply require two conversions. First, start with the natural major and convert it to the corresponding flat/sharp major key, and then convert that into the corresponding minor key by subtracting 3. For example, to calculate the C♯ Minor key signature, start with C Major which has a value of 0 and convert to C♯ Major which has a value of 7, and then subtract 3 to get C♯ Minor which has a value of 4.
Generic intervals refer to the distance between two notes in terms of scale degrees, regardless of the specific pitches. They are named based on the number of letter names they encompass, including both the starting and ending notes. Generic intervals accidentals are ignored. For example:
- First/Prime: Notes on the same line or space (e.g., C to C)
- Second: 2 notes (e.g., C to D)
- Third: 3 notes (e.g., C to E)
- Fourth: 4 notes (e.g., C to F)
- Fifth: 5 notes (e.g., C to G)
- Sixth: 6 notes (e.g., C to A)
- Seventh: 7 notes (e.g., C to B)
- Octave: 8 notes (e.g., C to C)
Specific intervals take into account the exact number of half steps between two notes, providing more detailed information about the interval's quality. The terms major and perfect refer to the intervals' quality. The most common specific intervals are:
- Major Second: 2 half steps
- Major Third: 4 half steps
- Perfect Fourth: 5 half steps
- Perfect Fifth: 7 half steps
- Major Sixth: 9 half steps
- Major Seventh: 11 half steps
- Perfect Eighth: 12 half steps (octave)
A minor interval has one less half step than a major interval. Since minor intervals are derived from major intervals, only the following exist:
- Minor Second: 1 half steps
- Minor Third: 3 half steps
- Minor Sixth: 8 half steps
- Minor Seventh: 10 half steps
An augmented interval has one more half step than a perfect interval. Major intervals can also be augmented by adding a half step. For example:
- Augmented Fourth: 6 half steps
- Augmented Fifth: 8 half steps
- Augmented Eighth: 13 half steps
A diminished interval has one less half step than a perfect interval. Major intervals can also be diminished by subtracting a half step. For example:
- Diminished Fourth: 4 half steps
- Diminished Fifth: 6 half steps
- Diminished Eighth: 11 half steps
For an example, we will write a diminished fifth from B. First write the B on the staff, and then add the generic fifth on the staff. Next calculate the number of half steps we need to add. Since a perfect fifth has 7 half steps, a diminished fifth would have 6 half steps. So the interval would be B - > F, and no accidentals need to be added to the note on the interval. Below is an example of writing the minor third interval from middle C.
In music, the vert "invert" means to move the lowest note in a group an octave higher. In this context we will be inverting intervals. For example inverting a perfect fifth C -> G, we would move the lower note C to an octave higher and the new interval would be G -> C which is 5 half steps. You can quickly calculate the number of steps by subtracting the number of steps in the original interval from 12. So 12 - 7(perfect fifth) = 5. So G -> C is a perfect fourth. Inverting a perfect interval will always result in another perfect interval, e.g. fourths become fifths and vise versa.
Inverting the major third interval C -> E results in E -> C which is a minor sixth. Inverting majors will always result in a minor and vise versa. Thirds and sixths invert to eachother, while seconds and sevenths invert to eachother.
Finally, diminished and augmented intervals invert to eachother, For example the augmented fourth C -> F# inverts to the diminished fifth F# -> C. Notice how all the inversions add up to 9 in terms of the names of the intervals regardless of the type.
Tbd.