Chapter I - Notation

Chapter 1
Notation
1.1 Pitch
1.1.1 The Sta1

People were talking long before they invented writing. People were also making music long before
anyone wrote any music down. Some musicians still play "by ear" (without written music), and
some music traditions rely more on improvisation and/or "by ear" learning. But written music is
very useful, for many of the same reasons that written words are useful. Music is easier to study
and share if it is written down. Western music (Section 2.8) specializes in long, complex pieces for
large groups of musicians singing or playing parts exactly as a composer intended. Without written
music, this would be too dicult. Many dierent types of music notation have been invented, and
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some, such as tablature , are still in use. By far the most widespread way to write music, however, is
on a sta . In fact, this type of written music is so ubiquitous that it is called common notation.
1.1.1.1 The Sta
The sta (plural staves) is written as ve horizontal parallel lines. Most of the notes (Section 1.2.1)
of the music are placed on one of these lines or in a space in between lines. Extra ledger lines may
be added to show a note that is too high or too low to be on the sta. Vertical bar lines divide
the sta into short sections called measures or bars. A double bar line, either heavy or light, is
used to mark the ends of larger sections of music, including the very end of a piece, which is marked
by a heavy double bar.
1 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m10880/2.9/>.

2 "Reading Guitar Tablature" <http://cnx.org/content/m11905/latest/>
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4 CHAPTER 1. NOTATION
The Sta
Figure 1.1: The ve horizontal lines are the lines of the sta. In between the lines are the spaces.
If a note is above or below the sta, ledger lines are added to show how far above or below. Shorter
vertical lines are bar lines. The most important symbols on the sta, the clef symbol, key signature
and time signature, appear at the beginning of the sta.
Many dierent kinds of symbols can appear on, above, and below the sta. The notes (Sec-
tion 1.2.1) and rests (Section 1.2.2) are the actual written music. A note stands for a sound; a rest
stands for a silence. Other symbols on the sta, like the clef (Section 1.1.2) symbol, the key signa-
ture (Section 1.1.4), and the time signature (Section 1.2.3), tell you important information about
the notes and measures. Symbols that appear above and below the music may tell you how fast it
goes (tempo (Section 1.2.8) markings), how loud it should be (dynamic (Section 1.3.1) markings),
where to go next (repeats (Section 1.2.9), for example) and even give directions for how to perform
particular notes (accents (pg 57), for example).
Other Symbols on the Sta
Figure 1.2: The bar lines divide the sta into short sections called bars or measures. The notes
(sounds) and rests (silences) are the written music. Many other symbols may appear on, above,
or below the sta, giving directions for how to play the music.
1.1.1.2 Groups of staves

Staves are read from left to right. Beginning at the top of the page, they are read one sta at a
time unless they are connected. If staves should be played at the same time (by the same person
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or by dierent people), they will be connected at least by a long vertical line at the left hand side.
They may also be connected by their bar lines. Staves played by similar instruments or voices, or
staves that should be played by the same person (for example, the right hand and left hand of a
piano part) may be grouped together by braces or brackets at the beginning of each line.
Groups of Staves
(a)
(b)
Figure 1.3: (b) When many staves are to be played at the same time, as in this orchestral score,
the lines for similar instruments - all the violins, for example, or all the strings - may be marked
with braces or brackets.
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1.1.2 Clef3
1.1.2.1 Treble Clef and Bass Clef
The rst symbol that appears at the beginning of every music sta (Section 1.1.1) is a clef symbol.
It is very important because it tells you which note (Section 1.2.1) (A, B, C, D, E, F, or G) is found
on each line or space. For example, a treble clef symbol tells you that the second line from the
bottom (the line that the symbol curls around) is "G". On any sta, the notes are always arranged
so that the next letter is always on the next higher line or space. The last note letter, G, is always
followed by another A.
Treble Clef
Figure 1.4
A bass clef symbol tells you that the second line from the top (the one bracketed by the symbol's
dots) is F. The notes are still arranged in ascending order, but they are all in dierent places than
they were in treble clef.
Bass Clef
Figure 1.5

1.1.2.2 Memorizing the Notes in Bass and Treble Clef

One of the rst steps in learning to read music in a particular clef is memorizing where the notes
are. Many students prefer to memorize the notes and spaces separately. Here are some of the most
popular mnemonics used.
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(a)
(b)
Figure 1.6: You can use a word or silly sentence to help you memorize which notes belong on
the lines or spaces of a clef. If you don't like these ones, you can make up your own.
1.1.2.3 Moveable Clefs

Most music these days is written in either bass clef or treble clef, but some music is written in a C
clef . The C clef is moveable: whatever line it centers on is a middle C (pg 120).
C Clefs
Figure 1.7: All of the notes on this sta are middle C.
The bass and treble clefs were also once moveable, but it is now very rare to see them anywhere
but in their standard positions. If you do see a treble or bass clef symbol in an unusual place,
remember: treble clef is a G clef ; its spiral curls around a G. Bass clef is an F clef ; its two dots
center around an F.
Moveable G and F Clefs
Figure 1.8: It is rare these days to see the G and F clefs in these nonstandard positions.
Much more common is the use of a treble clef that is meant to be read one octave below the
written pitch. Since many people are uncomfortable reading bass clef, someone writing music that
is meant to sound in the region of the bass clef may decide to write it in the treble clef so that it is
easy to read. A very small "8" at the bottom of the treble clef symbol means that the notes should
sound one octave lower than they are written.
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Figure 1.9: A small "8" at the bottom of a treble clef means that the notes should sound one
octave lower than written.
1.1.2.4 Why use dierent clefs?

Music is easier to read and write if most of the notes fall on the sta and few ledger lines (pg 3)
have to be used.
Figure 1.10: These scores show the same notes written in treble and in bass clef. The sta with
fewer ledger lines is easier to read and write.
The G indicated by the treble clef is the G above middle C (pg 120), while the F indicated
by the bass clef is the F below middle C. (C clef indicates middle C.) So treble clef and bass clef
together cover many of the notes that are in the range (Section 2.7) of human voices and of most
instruments. Voices and instruments with higher ranges usually learn to read treble clef, while
voices and instruments with lower ranges usually learn to read bass clef. Instruments with ranges
that do not fall comfortably into either bass or treble clef may use a C clef or may be transposing
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instruments .
4 "Transposing Instruments" <http://cnx.org/content/m10672/latest/>
Figure 1.11: Middle C is above the bass clef and below the treble clef; so together these two clefs
cover much of the range of most voices and instruments.
Exercise 1.1:
Write the name of each note below the note on each sta in Figure 1.12.
Figure 1.12
(Solution to Exercise 1.1 on p. 63.)
Exercise 1.2:
Choose a clef in which you need to practice recognizing notes above and below the sta in
Figure 1.13. Write the clef sign at the beginning of the sta, and then write the correct
note names below each note.
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Figure 1.13
Exercise 1.3:
Figure 1.14 gives more exercises to help you memorize whichever clef you are learning. You
may print these exercises as a PDF worksheet
5 if you like.
5 http://cnx.org/content/m10941/latest/ClefWorksheet.pdf
Figure 1.14

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1.1.3 Pitch: Sharp, Flat, and Natural Notes6

The pitch of a note is how high or low it sounds. Pitch depends on the frequency (Section 3.1.4)
of the fundamental
7 sound wave of the note. The higher the frequency of a sound wave, and the
shorter its wavelength (Section 3.1.4), the higher its pitch sounds. But musicians usually don't want
to talk about wavelengths and frequencies. Instead, they just give the dierent pitches dierent letter
names: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. These seven letters name all the natural notes (on a keyboard,
that's all the white keys) within one octave. (When you get to the eighth natural note, you start
the next octave (Section 4.1) on another A.)
Figure 1.15: The natural notes name the white keys on a keyboard.
But in Western (Section 2.8) music there are twelve notes in each octave that are in common
use. How do you name the other ve notes (on a keyboard, the black keys)?
Figure 1.16: Sharp, at, and natural signs can appear either in the key signature (Section 1.1.4),
or right in front of the note that they change.

7 "Harmonic Series" <http://cnx.org/content/m11118/latest/#p1c>
A sharp sign means "the note that is one half step (Section 4.2) higher than the natural note".
A at sign means "the note that is one half step lower than the natural note". Some of the natural
notes are only one half step apart, but most of them are a whole step (Section 4.2) apart. When
they are a whole step apart, the note in between them can only be named using a at or a sharp.
Figure 1.17
Notice that, using ats and sharps, any pitch can be given more than one note name. For
example, the G sharp and the A at are played on the same key on the keyboard; they sound the
same. You can also name and write the F natural as "E sharp"; F natural is the note that is a half
step higher than E natural, which is the denition of E sharp. Notes that have dierent names but
sound the same are called enharmonic (Section 1.1.5) notes.
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Figure 1.18: G sharp and A at sound the same. E sharp and F natural sound the same.
Sharp and at signs can be used in two ways: they can be part of a key signature (Section 1.1.4),
or they can mark accidentals. For example, if most of the C's in a piece of music are going to
be sharp, then a sharp sign is put in the "C" space at the beginning of the sta (Section 1.1.1),
in the key signature. If only a few of the C's are going to be sharp, then those C's are marked
individually with a sharp sign right in front of them. Pitches that are not in the key signature are
called accidentals.
Figure 1.19: When a sharp sign appears in the C space in the key signature, all C's are sharp
unless marked as accidentals.
A note can also be double sharp or double at. A double sharp is two half steps (one whole
step) higher than the natural note; a double at is two half steps (a whole step) lower. Triple,
quadruple, etc. sharps and ats are rare, but follow the same pattern: every sharp or at raises or
lowers the pitch one more half step.
Using double or triple sharps or ats may seem to be making things more dicult than they
need to be. Why not call the note "A natural" instead of "G double sharp"? The answer is that,
although A natural and G double sharp are the same pitch, they don't have the same function within
a particular chord or a particular key. For musicians who understand some music theory (and that
includes most performers, not just composers and music teachers), calling a note "G double sharp"
gives important and useful information about how that note functions in the chord (Chords) and in
the progression of the harmony (Section 5.5).
Figure 1.20: Double sharps raise the pitch by two half steps (one whole step). Double ats lower
the pitch by two half steps (one whole step).
1.1.4 Key Signature8

The key signature comes right after the clef (Section 1.1.2) symbol on the sta (Section 1.1.1).
It may have either some sharp (Section 1.1.3) symbols on particular lines or spaces, or some at
(Section 1.1.3) symbols, again on particular lines or spaces. If there are no ats or sharps listed after
the clef symbol, then the key signature is "all notes are natural".
In common notation, clef and key signature are the only symbols that normally appear on every
sta. They appear so often because they are such important symbols; they tell you what note is on
each line and space of the sta. The clef tells you the letter name of the note (A, B, C, etc.), and
the key tells you whether the note is sharp, at or natural.

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Figure 1.21
The key signature is a list of all the sharps and ats in the key (Section 4.3) that the music is
in. When a sharp (or at) appears on a line or space in the key signature, all the notes on that line
or space are sharp (or at), and all other notes with the same letter names in other octaves are also
sharp (or at).
Figure 1.22: This key signature has a at on the "B" line, so all of these B's are at.
The sharps or ats always appear in the same order in all key signatures. This is the same order
in which they are added as keys get sharper or atter. For example, if a key (G major or E minor)
has only one sharp, it will be F sharp, so F sharp is always the rst sharp listed in a sharp key
signature. The keys that have two sharps (D major and B minor) have F sharp and C sharp, so C
sharp is always the second sharp in a key signature, and so on. The order of sharps is: F sharp, C
sharp, G sharp, D sharp, A sharp, E sharp, B sharp. The order of ats is the reverse of the order of
sharps: B at, E at, A at, D at, G at, C at, F at. So the keys with only one at (F major
and D minor) have a B at; the keys with two ats (B at major and G minor) have B at and E
at; and so on. The order of ats and sharps, like the order of the keys themselves, follows a circle
of fths (Section 4.7).
Figure 1.23
If you do not know the name of the key of a piece of music, the key signature can help you nd
out. Assume for a moment that you are in a major key (Section 4.3). If the key contains sharps,
the name of the key is one half step (Section 4.2) higher than the last sharp in the key signature.
If the key contains ats, the name of the key signature is the name of the second-to-last at in the
key signature.
Example 1.1:
Figure 1.24 demonstrates quick ways to name the (major) key simply by looking at the key
signature. In at keys, the second-to-last at names the key. In sharp keys, the note that
names the key is one half step above the nal sharp.
Figure 1.24
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The only major keys that these rules do not work for are C major (no ats or sharps) and F
major (one at). It is easiest just to memorize the key signatures for these two very common keys.
If you want a rule that also works for the key of F major, remember that the second-to-last at is
always a perfect fourth (pg 140) higher than (or a perfect fth lower than) the nal at. So you can
also say that the name of the key signature is a perfect fourth lower than the name of the nal at.
Figure 1.25: The key of C major has no sharps or ats. F major has one at.
If the music is in a minor key, it will be in the relative minor (Section 4.4.3) of the major key
for that key signature. You may be able to tell just from listening (see Major Keys and Scales
(Section 4.3)) whether the music is in a major or minor key. If not, the best clue is to look at the
nal chord (Chords). That chord (and often the nal note of the melody, also) will usually name
the key.
Exercise 1.4:
Write the key signatures asked for in Figure 1.26 and name the major keys that they
represent.
Figure 1.26
1.1.5 Enharmonic Spelling9

1.1.5.1 Enharmonic Notes
In common notation (Section 1.1.1), any note can be sharp, at, or natural (Section 1.1.3). A sharp
symbol raises the pitch (Section 1.1.3) (of a natural note) by one half step (Section 4.2); a at symbol
lowers it by one half step.

Figure 1.27
Why do we bother with these symbols? There are twelve pitches available within any octave
(Section 4.1). We could give each of those twelve pitches its own name (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J,
K, and L) and its own line or space on a sta. But that would actually be fairly inecient, because
most music is in a particular key (Section 4.3). And music that is in a major (Section 4.3) or minor
(Section 4.4) key will tend to use only seven of those twelve notes. So music is easier to read if it
has only lines, spaces, and notes for the seven pitches it is (mostly) going to use, plus a way to write
the occasional notes that are not in the key.
This is basically what common notation does. There are only seven note names (A, B, C, D, E,
F, G), and each line or space on a sta (Section 1.1.1) will correspond with one of those note names.
To get all twelve pitches using only the seven note names, we allow any of these notes to be sharp,
at, or natural. Look (Figure 1.28) at the notes on a keyboard.
Figure 1.28: Seven of the twelve possible notes in each octave (Section 4.1) are "natural" notes.
Because most of the natural notes are two half steps apart, there are plenty of pitches that you
can only get by naming them with either a at or a sharp (on the keyboard, the "black key" notes).
For example, the note in between D natural and E natural can be named either D sharp or E at.
These two names look very dierent on the sta, but they are going to sound exactly the same, since
you play both of them by pressing the same black key on the piano.
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Figure 1.29: D sharp and E at look very dierent when written in common notation, but they
sound exactly the same when played on a piano.
This is an example of enharmonic spelling. Two notes are enharmonic if they sound the
same on a piano but are named and written dierently.
Exercise 1.5:
Name the other enharmonic notes that are listed above the black keys on the keyboard in
Figure 1.28. Write them on a treble clef sta. If you need sta paper, you can print out
this PDF le
10 (Solution to Exercise 1.5 on p. 67.)
But these are not the only possible enharmonic notes. Any note can be at or sharp, so you can
have, for example, an E sharp. Looking at the keyboard (Figure 1.28) and remembering that the
denition of sharp is "one half step higher than natural", you can see that an E sharp must sound
the same as an F natural. Why would you choose to call the note E sharp instead of F natural?
Even though they sound the same, E sharp and F natural, as they are actually used in music, are
dierent notes. (They may, in some circumstances, also sound dierent; see below (Section 1.1.5.4).)
Not only will they look dierent when written on a sta, but they will have dierent functions within
a key and dierent relationships with the other notes of a piece of music. So a composer may very
well prefer to write an E sharp, because that makes the note's place in the harmonies of a piece more
clear to the performer. (Please see Triads (Section 5.1), Beyond Triads (Section 5.4), and Harmonic
Analysis (Section 5.5) for more on how individual notes t into chords and harmonic progressions.)
In fact, this need (to make each note's place in the harmony very clear) is so important that
double sharps and double ats have been invented to help do it. A double sharp is two half steps
(one whole step (Section 4.2)) higher than the natural note. A double at is two half steps lower
than the natural note. Double sharps and ats are fairly rare, and triple and quadruple ats even
rarer, but all are allowed.
Figure 1.30
10 http://cnx.org/content/m11641/latest/stapaper1.pdf
Exercise 1.6:
Give at least one enharmonic spelling for the following notes. Try to give more than one.
(Look at the keyboard (Figure 1.28) again if you need to.)
1.E natural
2.B natural
3.C natural
4.G natural
5.A natural
1.1.5.2 Enharmonic Keys and Scales

Keys and scales can also be enharmonic. Major keys, for example, always follow the same pattern
of half steps and whole steps. (See Major Keys and Scales (Section 4.3). Minor keys also all follow
the same pattern, dierent from the major scale pattern; see Minor Keys (Section 4.4).) So whether
you start a major scale on an E at, or start it on a D sharp, you will be following the same pattern,
playing the same piano keys as you go up the scale. But the notes of the two scales will have dierent
names, the scales will look very dierent when written, and musicians may think of them as being
dierent. For example, most instrumentalists would nd it easier to play in E at than in D sharp.
In some cases, an E at major scale may even sound slightly dierent from a D sharp major scale.
(See below (Section 1.1.5.4).)
Figure 1.31: The E at major and D sharp major scales sound the same on the piano, although
they look very dierent. If this surprises you, look again at the piano keyboard (Figure 1.28) and
nd the notes that you would play for each scale.
Since the scales are the same, D sharp major and E at major are also enharmonic keys.
Again, their key signatures will look very dierent, but music in D sharp will not be any higher or
lower than music in E at.
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Enharmonic Keys
Figure 1.32: The key signatures for E at and D sharp look very dierent, but would sound the
same on a keyboard.
Exercise 1.7:
Give an enharmonic name and key signature for the keys given in Figure 1.33. (If you are
not well-versed in key signatures (Section 1.1.4) yet, pick the easiest enharmonic spelling
for the key name, and the easiest enharmonic spelling for every note in the key signature.
Writing out the scales may help, too.)
Figure 1.33

1.1.5.3 Enharmonic Intervals and Chords
Figure 1.34
Chords (Chords) and intervals (Section 4.5) also can have enharmonic spellings. Again, it is im-
portant to name a chord or interval as it has been spelled, in order to understand how it ts into
the rest of the music. A C sharp major chord means something dierent in the key of D than a
D at major chord does. And an interval of a diminished fourth means something dierent than
an interval of a major third, even though they would be played using the same keys on a piano.
(For practice naming intervals, see Interval (Section 4.5). For practice naming chords, see Naming
Triads (Section 5.2) and Beyond Triads (Section 5.4). For an introduction to how chords function
in a harmony, see Beginning Harmonic Analysis (Section 5.5).)
Figure 1.35
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1.1.5.4 Enharmonic Spellings and Equal Temperament

All of the above discussion assumes that all notes are tuned in equal temperament (Section 6.2.3.2).
Equal temperament has become the "ocial" tuning system for Western music (Section 2.8). It is
easy to use in pianos and other instruments that are dicult to retune (organ, harp, and xylophone,
to name just a few), precisely because enharmonic notes sound exactly the same. But voices and
instruments that can ne-tune quickly (for example violins, clarinets, and trombones) often move
away from equal temperament. They sometimes drift, consciously or unconsciously, towards just
intonation (pg 227), which is more closely based on the harmonic series (Section 3.3). When this
happens, enharmonically spelled notes, scales, intervals, and chords, may not only be theoretically
dierent. They may also actually be slightly dierent pitches. The dierences between, say, a D
sharp and an E at, when this happens, are very small, but may be large enough to be noticeable.
Many Non-western music traditions (Section 2.8) also do not use equal temperament. Sharps and
ats used to notate music in these traditions should not be assumed to mean a change in pitch
equal to an equal-temperament half-step. For denitions and discussions of equal temperament, just
intonation, and other tuning systems, please see Tuning Systems (Section 6.2).
1.2 Time
1.2.1 Duration: Note Lengths in Written Music11

1.2.1.1 The Shape of a Note
In standard notation, a single musical sound is written as a note. The two most important things
a written piece of music needs to tell you about a note are its pitch - how high or low it is - and its
duration - how long it lasts.
To nd out the pitch (Section 1.1.3) of a written note, you look at the clef (Section 1.1.2) and
the key signature (Section 1.1.4), then see what line or space the note is on. The higher a note sits
on the sta (Section 1.1.1), the higher it sounds. To nd out the duration of the written note, you
look at the tempo (Section 1.2.8) and the time signature (Section 1.2.3) and then see what the note
looks like.
The Parts of a Note
Figure 1.36: All of the parts of a written note aect how long it lasts.
The pitch of the note depends only on what line or space the head of the note is on. (Please see
pitch (Section 1.1.3) , clef (Section 1.1.2) and key signature (Section 1.1.4) for more information.)

If the note does not have a head (see Figure 1.37), that means that it does not have one denite
pitch.
Notes Without Heads
Figure 1.37: If a note does not have head, it does not have one denite pitch. Such a note may
be a pitchless sound, like a drum beat or a hand clap, or it may be an entire chord rather than a
single note.
The head of the note may be lled in (black), or not. The note may also have (or not) a stem,
one or more ags, beams connecting it to other notes, or one or more dots following the head of the
note. All of these things aect how much time the note is given in the music.
Note: A dot that is someplace other than next to the head of the note does not aect
the rhythm. Other dots are articulation (Section 1.3.2) marks. They may aect the actual
length of the note (the amount of time it sounds), but do not aect the amount of time it
must be given. (The extra time when the note could be sounding, but isn't, becomes an
unwritten rest (Section 1.2.2).) If this is confusing, please see the explanation in articulation
(Section 1.3.2).
1.2.1.2 The Length of a Note
Most Common Note Lengths
Figure 1.38
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The simplest-looking note, with no stems or ags, is a whole note. All other note lengths are dened
by how long they last compared to a whole note. A note that lasts half as long as a whole note is
a half note. quarter note. The pattern
A note that lasts a quarter as long as a whole note is a
continues with eighth notes, sixteenth notes, thirty-second notes, sixty-fourth notes, and
so on, each type of note being half the length of the previous type. (There are no such thing as third
notes, sixth notes, tenth notes, etc.; see Dots, Ties, and Borrowed Divisions (Section 1.2.6) to nd
out how notes of unusual lengths are written.)
Figure 1.39: Note lengths work just like fractions in arithmetic: two half notes or four quarter
notes last the same amount of time as one whole note. Flags are often replaced by beams that
connect the notes into easy-to-read groups.
You may have noticed that some of the eighth notes in Figure 1.39 don't have ags; instead they
have a beam connecting them to another eighth note. If agged notes are next to each other, their
ags can be replaced by beams that connect the notes into easy-to-read groups. The beams may
connect notes that are all in the same beat, or, in some vocal music, they may connect notes that
are sung on the same text syllable. Each note will have the same number of beams as it would have
ags.
Notes with Beams
Figure 1.40: The notes connected with beams are easier to read quickly than the agged notes.
Notice that each note has the same number of beams as it would have ags, even if it is connected
to a dierent type of note. The notes are often (but not always) connected so that each beamed
group gets one beat. This makes the notes easier to read quickly.
You may have also noticed that the note lengths sound like fractions in arithmetic. In fact they
work very much like fractions: two half notes will be equal to (last as long as) one whole note; four
eighth notes will be the same length as one half note; and so on. (For classroom activities relating
music to fractions, see Fractions, Multiples, Beats, and Measures
12 .)
Example 1.2:
Figure 1.41
Exercise 1.8:
Draw the missing notes and ll in the blanks to make each side the same duration (length
of time).
Figure 1.42

12 "Fractions, Multiples, Beats, and Measures" <http://cnx.org/content/m11807/latest/>
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So how long does each of these notes actually last? That depends on a couple of things. A
written note lasts for a certain amount of time measured in beats (Section 1.2.3.1). To nd out
exactly how many beats it takes, you must know the time signature (Section 1.2.3). And to nd out
how long a beat is, you need to know the tempo (Section 1.2.8).
Example 1.3:
Figure 1.43: In any particular section of a piece of music, a half note is always twice as long
as a quarter note. But how long each note actually lasts depends on the time signature and the
tempo.
1.2.1.3 More about Stems

Whether a stem points up or down does not aect the note length at all. There are two basic ideas
that lead to the rules for stem direction. One is that the music should be as easy as possible to read
and understand. The other is that the notes should tend to be "in the sta" as much as reasonably
possible.
Basic Stem Direction Rules

1. Single Notes - Notes below the middle line of the sta should be stem up. Notes on or above
the middle line should be stem down.
2. Notes sharing a stem (block chords) - Generally, the stem direction will be the direction for
the note that is furthest away from the middle line of the sta
3. Notes sharing a beam - Again, generally you will want to use the stem direction of the note
farthest from the center of the sta, to keep the beam near the sta.
4. Dierent rhythms being played at the same time by the same player - Clarity requires that
you write one rhythm with stems up and the other stems down.
5. Two parts for dierent performers written on the same sta - If the parts have the same
rhythm, they may be written as block chords. If they do not, the stems for one part (the
"high" part or "rst" part) will point up and the stems for the other part will point down.
This rule is especially important when the two parts cross; otherwise there is no way for the
performers to know that the "low" part should be reading the high note at that spot.
Stem Direction
Figure 1.44: Keep stems and beams in or near the sta, but also use stem direction to clarify
rhythms and parts when necessary.
1.2.2 Duration: Rest Length13

A rest stands for a silence in music. For each kind of note (Section 1.2.1), there is a written rest of
the same length.
The Most Common Rests
Figure 1.45
Exercise 1.9:
For each note on the rst line, write a rest of the same length on the second line. The rst
measure (Section 1.2.3.1) is done for you.

33
Figure 1.46

Rests don't necessarily mean that there is silence in the music at that point; only that that part
is silent. Often, on a sta (Section 1.1.1) with multiple parts, a rest must be used as a placeholder
for one of the parts, even if a single person is playing both parts. When the rhythms are complex,
this is necessary to make the rhythm in each part clear.
Figure 1.47: When multiple simultaneous rhythms are written on the same sta, rests may be
used to clarify individual rhythms, even if another rhythm contains notes at that point.
1.2.3 Time Signature14

The time signature appears at the beginning of a piece of music, right after the key signature
(Section 1.1.4). Unlike the key signature, which is on every sta (Section 1.1.1), the time signature
will not appear again in the music unless the meter changes. The meter (Section 1.2.4) of a piece
of music is its basic rhythm; the time signature is the symbol that tells you the meter of the piece
and how (with what type of note (Section 1.2.1)) it is written.

Figure 1.48: The time signature appears at the beginning of the piece of music, right after the
clef symbol and key signature.
1.2.3.1 Beats and Measures

Because music is heard over a period of time, one of the main ways music is organized is by dividing
that time up into short periods called beats. In most music, things tend to happen right at the
beginning of each beat. This makes the beat easy to hear and feel. When you clap your hands, tap
your toes, or dance, you are "moving to the beat". Your claps are sounding at the beginning of the
beat, too. This is also called being "on the downbeat", because it is the time when the conductor's
baton
15 hits the bottom of its path and starts moving up again.
Example 1.4:
Listen to excerpts A, B, C and D. Can you clap your hands, tap your feet, or otherwise
move "to the beat"? Can you feel the 1-2-1-2 or 1-2-3-1-2-3 of the meter? Is there a piece
in which it is easier or harder to feel the beat?
• A
16
• 17
B
• C
18
• D
19
The downbeat is the strongest part of the beat, but some downbeats are stronger than others.
Usually a pattern can be heard in the beats: strong-weak-weak-strong-weak-weak, or strong-weak-
strong-weak. So beats are organized even further by grouping them into bars, or measures. (The
two words mean the same thing.) For example, for music with a beat pattern of strong-weak-weak-
strong-weak-weak, or 1-2-3-1-2-3, a measure would have three beats in it. The time signature tells
you two things: how many beats there are in each measure, and what type of note (Section 1.2.1)
gets a beat.
15 "Conducting" <http://cnx.org/content/m12404/latest/>
16 http://cnx.org/content/m10956/latest/Tanz.mp3
17 http://cnx.org/content/m10956/latest/EasyWinners.MID
18 http://cnx.org/content/m10956/latest/Jetztkommt.MID
19 http://cnx.org/content/m10956/latest/Greensleeves.mp3
35
Reading the Time Signature
Figure 1.49: This time signature means that there are three quarter notes (or any combination
of notes that equals three quarter notes) in every measure. A piece with this time signature would
be "in three four time" or just "in three four".
Exercise 1.10:
Listen again to the music in Example 1.4. Instead of clapping, count each beat. Decide
whether the music has 2, 3, or 4 beats per measure. In other words, does it feel more
natural to count 1-2-1-2, 1-2-3-1-2-3, or 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4? (Solution to Exercise 1.10 on p. 69.)
1.2.3.2 Meter: Reading Time Signatures

Most time signatures contain two numbers. The top number tells you how many beats there are in
a measure. The bottom number tells you what kind of note gets a beat.
Figure 1.50: In "four four" time, there are four beats in a measure and a quarter note gets a
beat. Any combination of notes that equals four quarters can be used to ll up a measure.
You may have noticed that the time signature looks a little like a fraction in arithmetic. Filling
up measures feels a little like nding equivalent fractions
20 , too. In "four four time", for example,
there are four beats in a measure and a quarter note gets one beat. So four quarter notes would ll
up one measure. But so would any other combination of notes that equals four quarters: one whole,
two halves, one half plus two quarters, and so on.
20 "Fractions, Multiples, Beats, and Measures" <http://cnx.org/content/m11807/latest/>

Example 1.5:
If the time signature is three eight, any combination of notes that adds up to three eighths
will ll a measure. Remember that a dot (Section 1.2.6) is worth an extra half of the note
it follows. Listen
21 to the rhythms in Figure 1.51.
Figure 1.51: If the time signature is three eight, a measure may be lled with any combination
of notes and rests that adds up to three eight.
Exercise 1.11:
Write each of the time signatures below (with a clef symbol) at the beginning of a sta.
Write at least four measures of music in each time signature. Fill each measure with a
dierent combination of note lengths. Use at least one dotted note on each sta. If you
need some sta paper, you can download this PDF le
22 .
1.Two four time
2.Three eight time
3.Six four time
A few time signatures don't have to be written as numbers. Four four time is used so much that
common time, written as a bold "C". When both fours are "cut" in half to twos,
it is often called
you have cut time, written as a "C" cut by a vertical slash.
Figure 1.52
21 http://cnx.org/content/m10956/latest/timesig1.MID
22 http://cnx.org/content/m10956/latest/stapaper1.pdf
37
1.2.3.3 Counting and Conducting

You may have already noticed that a measure in four four time looks the same as a measure in two
two. After all, in arithmetic, four quarters adds up to the same thing as two halves. For that matter,
why not call the time signature "one one" or "eight eight"?
Figure 1.53: Measures in all of these meters look the same, but feel dierent. The dierence is
how many downbeats there are in a measure.
Or why not write two two as two four, giving quarter notes the beat instead of half notes? The
music would look very dierent, but it would sound the same, as long as you made the beats the
same speed. The music in each of the staves in Figure 1.54 would sound like this
23 .
23 http://cnx.org/content/m10956/latest/14k.mid
Figure 1.54: The music in each of these staves should sound exactly alike.
So why is one time signature chosen rather than another? The composer will normally choose
a time signature that makes the music easy to read and also easy to count and conduct. Does the
music feel like it has four beats in every measure, or does it go by so quickly that you only have
time to tap your foot twice in a measure?
A common exception to this is six eight time, and the other time signatures (for example nine
eight and twelve eight) commonly used to write compound meters (Section 1.2.4). A piece in six
eight might have six beats in every measure, with an eighth note getting a beat. But it is more
likely that the conductor will give only two beats per measure, with a dotted quarter (or three eighth
notes) getting one beat. Since beats normally get divided into halves and quarters, this is the easiest
way for composers to write beats that are divided into thirds. In the same way, three eight may
only have one beat per measure; nine eight, three beats per measure; and twelve eight, four beats
per measure.
Figure 1.55: In six eight time, a dotted quarter usually gets one beat. This is the easiest way to
write beats that are evenly divided into three rather than two.
39
1.2.4 Meter24
1.2.4.1 What is Meter?
The meter of a piece of music is the arrangment of its rhythms in a repetitive pattern of strong and
weak beats. This does not necessarily mean that the rhythms themselves are repetitive, but they
do strongly suggest a repeated pattern of pulses. It is on these pulses, the beat (Section 1.2.3.1) of
the music, that you tap your foot, clap your hands, dance, etc.
Some music does not have a meter. Ancient music, such as Gregorian chants; new music, such
as some experimental twentieth-century art music; and Non-Western music, such as some native
American ute music, may not have a strong, repetitive pattern of beats. Other types of music,
such as traditional Western African drumming, may have very complex meters that can be dicult
for the beginner to identify.
But most Western (Section 2.8) music has simple, repetitive patterns of beats. This makes meter
a very useful way to organize the music. Common notation (Section 1.1.1), for example, divides
the written music into small groups of beats called measures, or bars (Section 1.2.3.1). The lines
dividing each measure from the next help the musician reading the music to keep track of the rhythms
(Section 2.1). A piece (or section of the piece) is assigned a time signature (Section 1.2.3) that tells
the performer how many beats to expect in each measure, and what type of note (Section 1.2.1)
should get one beat. (For more on reading time signatures, please see Time Signature (Section 1.2.3).)
Conducting
25 also depends on the meter of the piece; conductors use dierent conducting patterns
for the dierent meters. These patterns emphasize the dierences between the stronger and weaker
beats to help the performers keep track of where they are in the music.
But the conducting patterns depend only on the pattern of strong and weak beats. In other
words, they only depend on "how many beats there are in a measure", not "what type of note gets a
beat". So even though the time signature is often called the "meter" of a piece, one can talk about
meter without worrying about the time signature or even being able to read music. (Teachers, note
that this means that children can be introduced to the concept of meter long before they are reading
music. See Meter Activities
26 for some suggestions.)
1.2.4.2 Classifying Meters

Meters can be classied by counting the number of beats from one strong beat to the next. For
duple meter. "strong-
example, if the meter of the music feels like "strong-weak-strong-weak", it is in
weak-weak-strong-weak-weak" is triple meter, and "strong-weak-weak-weak" is quadruple. (Most
people don't bother classifying the more unusual meters, such as those with ve beats in a measure.)
Meters can also be classied as either simple or compound. In a simple meter, each beat is
basically divided into halves. In compound meters, each beat is divided into thirds.
A borrowed division occurs whenever the basic meter of a piece is interrupted by some beats
that sound like they are "borrowed" from a dierent meter. One of the most common examples of
this is the use of triplets (pg 44) to add some compound meter to a piece that is mostly in a simple
meter. (See Dots, Ties, and Borrowed Divisions (Section 1.2.6) to see what borrowed divisions look
like in common notation.)
1.2.4.3 Recognizing Meters

To learn to recognize meter, remember that (in most Western (Section 2.8) music) the beats and
the subdivisions of beats are all equal and even. So you are basically listening for a running, even
pulse underlying the rhythms of the music. For example, if it makes sense to count along with the

25 "Conducting" <http://cnx.org/content/m12404/latest/>
26 "Musical Meter Activities" <http://cnx.org/content/m13616/latest/>
music "ONE-and-Two-and-ONE-and-Two-and" (with all the syllables very evenly spaced) then you
probably have a simple duple meter. But if it's more comfortable to count "ONE-and-a-Two-and-
a-ONE-and-a-Two-and-a", it's probably compound duple meter. (Make sure numbers always come
on a pulse, and "one" always on the strongest pulse.)
This may take some practice if you're not used to it, but it can be useful practice for anyone who
is learning about music. To help you get started, the gure below sums up the most-used meters.
To help give you an idea of what each meter should feel like, here are some animations (with sound)
of duple simple
27 , duple compound28 , triple simple29 , triple compound30 , quadruple simple31 , and
quadruple compound
32 meters. You may also want to listen to some examples of music that is
33 34 35 36
in simple duple , simple triple , simple quadruple , compound duple , and compound triple
37
meters.
Meters
Figure 1.56: Remember that meter is not the same as time signature; the time signatures given
here are just examples. For example, 2/2 and 2/8 are also simple duple meters.
1.2.5 Pickup Notes and Measures38

1.2.5.1 Pickup Measures
Normally, all the measures (Section 1.1.1.1) of a piece of music must have exactly the number of
beats (Section 1.2.3.1) indicated in the time signature (Section 1.2.3). The beats may be lled with
27 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/duplesimple.swf
28 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/duplecompound.swf
29 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/triplesimple.swf
30 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/triplecompound.swf
31 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/quadsimple.swf
32 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/quadcompound.swf
33 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/metdup.mp3
34 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/mettrip.mp3
35 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/metquad.mp3
36 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/metcompdup.mp3
37 http://cnx.org/content/m12405/latest/metcomptrip.mp3
41
any combination of notes or rests (with duration (Section 1.2.1) values also dictated by the time
signature), but they must combine to make exactly the right number of beats. If a measure or group
of measures has more or fewer beats, the time signature must change.
Figure 1.57: Normally, a composer who wants to put more or fewer beats in a measure must
change the time signature, as in this example from Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov.
There is one common exception to this rule. (There are also some less common exceptions not
discussed here.) Often, a piece of music does not begin on the strongest downbeat (pg 34). Instead,
the strong beat that people like to count as "one" (the beginning of a measure), happens on the
second or third note, or even later. In this case, the rst measure may be a full measure that begins
with some rests. But often the rst measure is simply not a full measure. This shortened rst
measure is called a pickup measure.
If there is a pickup measure, the nal measure of the piece should be shortened by the length
of the pickup measure (although this rule is sometimes ignored in less formal written music). For
example, if the meter (Section 1.2.4) of the piece has four beats, and the pickup measure has one
beat, then the nal measure should have only three beats. (Of course, any combination of notes and
rests can be used, as long as the total in the rst and nal measures equals one full measure.
Figure 1.58: If a piece begins with a pickup measure, the nal measure of the piece is shortened
by the length of the pickup measure.
1.2.5.2 Pickup Notes

Any phrase (Section 2.3.4) of music (not just the rst one) may begin someplace other than on a
strong downbeat. All the notes before the rst strong downbeat of any phrase are the pickup notes
to that phrase.
Figure 1.59: Any phrase may begin with pickup notes. Each of these four phrases begins with
one or two pickup notes. (You may listen to the tune here39 ; can you hear that the pickup notes
lead to the stronger downbeat?)
A piece that is using pickup measures or pickup notes may also sometimes place a double bar (pg
3) (with or without repeat signs) inside a measure, in order to make it clear which phrase and which
section of the music the pickup notes belong to. If this happens (which is a bit rare, because it can
be confusing to read), there is still a single bar line where it should be, at the end of the measure.
Figure 1.60: At the ends of sections of the music, a measure may be interrupted by a double
bar that places the pickup notes in the correct section and assures that repeats have the correct
number of beats. When this happens, the bar line will still appear at the end of the completed
measure. This notation can be confusing, though, and in some music the pickups and repeats are
written in a way that avoids these broken-up measures.
1.2.6 Dots, Ties, and Borrowed Divisions40

A half note is half the length of a whole note; a quarter note is half the length of a half note; an eighth
note is half the length of a quarter note, and so on. (See Duration:Note Length (Section 1.2.1).)
The same goes for rests. (See Duration: Rest Length (Section 1.2.2).) But what if you want a note
(or rest) length that isn't half of another note (or rest) length?
1.2.6.1 Dotted Notes

One way to get a dierent length is by dotting the note or rest. A dotted note is one-and-a-half
times the length of the same note without the dot. In other words, the note keeps its original length
39 http://cnx.org/content/m12717/latest/GirlILeftBehind.MID
43
and adds another half of that original length because of the dot. So a dotted half note, for example,
would last as long as a half note plus a quarter note, or three quarters of a whole note.
Figure 1.61: The dot acts as if it is adding another note half the length of the original note.
A dotted quarter note, for example, would be the length of a quarter plus an eighth, because an
eighth note is half the length of a quarter note.
Exercise 1.12:
Make groups of equal length on each side, by putting a dotted note or rest in the box.
Figure 1.62
A note may have more than one dot. Each dot adds half the length that the dot before it added.
For example, the rst dot after a half note adds a quarter note length; the second dot would add an
eighth note length.
Figure 1.63: When a note has more than one dot, each dot is worth half of the dot before it.
1.2.6.2 Tied Notes

A dotted half lasts as long as a half note plus a quarter note. The same length may be written as
a half note and a quarter note tied together. Tied notes are written with a curved line connecting
two notes that are on the same line or the same space in the sta. Notes of any length may be tied
together, and more than two notes may be tied together. The sound they stand for will be a single
note that is the length of all the tied notes added together. This is another way to make a great
variety of note lengths. Tied notes are also the only way to write a sound that starts in one measure
(Section 1.2.3.1) and ends in a dierent measure.
Note: Ties may look like slurs (pg 60), but they are not the same; a slur connects to
notes with dierent pitches (Section 1.1.3) and is a type of articulation (Section 1.3.2).
Figure 1.64: When these eight notes are played as written, only ve distinct notes are heard:
one note the length of two whole notes; then a dotted half note; then another note the same length
as the dotted half note; then a quarter note; then a note the same length as a whole note plus a
quarter note.
1.2.6.3 Borrowed Divisions

Dots and ties give you much freedom to write notes of varying lengths, but so far you must build
your notes from halves of other notes. If you want to divide a note length into anything other than
halves or halves of halves - if you want to divide a beat into thirds or fths, for example - you must
write the number of the division over the notes. These unusual subdivisions are called borrowed
divisions because they sound as if they have been borrowed from a completely dierent meter
(Section 1.2.4). They can be dicult to perform correctly and are avoided in music for beginners.
The only one that is commonly used is triplets, which divide a note length into equal thirds.
45
Some Borrowed Divisions
Figure 1.65: Any common note length can be divided into an unusual number of equal-length
notes and rests, for example by dividing a whole note into three instead of two "half" notes. The
notes are labeled with the appropriate number. If there might be any question as to which notes
are involved in the borrowed division, a bracket is placed above them. Triplets are by far the most
common borrowed division.
Borrowed Duplets
Figure 1.66: In a compound meter (Section 1.2.4), which normally divides a beat into three, the
borrowed division may divide the beat into two, as in a simple meter. You may also see duplets
in swing music.
Notes in jazzy-sounding music that has a "swing" beat are often assumed to be triplet rhythms,
even when they look like regular divisions; for example, two written eighth notes (or a dotted quarter-
sixteenth) might sound like a triplet quarter-eighth rhythm. In jazz and other popular music styles,
a tempo (Section 1.2.8) notation that says swing usually means that all rhythms should be played
as triplets. Straight means to play the rhythms as written.
Note: Some jazz musicians prefer to think of a swing rhythm as more of a heavy
accent on the second eighth, rather than as a triplet rhythm, particularly when the tempo
(Section 1.2.8) is fast. This distinction is not important for students of music theory, but
jazz students will want to work hard on using both rhythm (Section 2.1) and articulation
(Section 1.3.2) to produce a convincing "swing".
Swing Rhythms
Figure 1.67: Jazz or blues with a "swing" rhythm often assumes that all divisions are triplets.
The swung triplets may be written as triplets, or they may simply be written as "straight" eighth
notes or dotted eighth-sixteenths. If rhythms are not written as triplets, the tempo marking usually
includes an indication to "swing", or it may simply be implied by the style and genre of the music.
1.2.7 Syncopation41
A syncopation or syncopated rhythm is any rhythm (Section 2.1) that puts an emphasis on
a beat (Section 1.2.3.1), or a subdivision of a beat, that is not usually emphasized. One of the
most obvious features of Western (Section 2.8) music, to be heard in most everything from Bach
to blues, is a strong, steady beat that can easily be grouped evenly into measures (Section 1.2.3.1).
(In other words, each measure has the same number of beats, and you can hear the measures in the
music because the rst beat of the measure is the strongest. See Time Signature (Section 1.2.3) and
Meter (Section 1.2.4) for more on this.) This makes it easy for you to dance or clap your hands to
the music. But music that follows the same rhythmic pattern all the time can get pretty boring.
Syncopation is one way to liven things up. The music can suddenly emphasize the weaker beats of
the measure, or it can even emphasize notes that are not on the beat at all. For example, listen
42
to the melody in Figure 1.68.
Figure 1.68: A syncopation may involve putting an "important" note on a weak beat, or o
the beat altogether.

42 http://cnx.org/content/m11644/latest/Syncopation.MID
47
The rst measure clearly establishes a simple quadruple meter (Section 1.2.4) ("ONE and two
and THREE and four and"), in which important things, like changes in the melody, happen on beat
one or three. But then, in the second measure, a syncopation happens; the longest and highest note
is on beat two, normally a weak beat. In the syncopation in the third measure, the longest note
doesn't even begin on a beat; it begins half-way through the third beat. (Some musicians would say
"on the up-beat" or "on the 'and' of three".) Now listen to another example from a Boccherini
minuet
43 . Again, some of the long notes begin half-way between the beats, or "on the up-beat".
Notice, however, that in other places in the music, the melody establishes the meter very strongly,
so that the syncopations are easily heard to be syncopations.
Figure 1.69: Syncopation is one of the most important elements in ragtime44 music, as illustrated
in this example from Scott Joplin's Peacherine Rag. Notice that the syncopated notes in the
melody come on the second and fourth quarters of the beat, essentially alternating with the strong
eighth-note pattern laid down in the accompaniment.
Another way to strongly establish the meter is to have the syncopated rhythm playing in one part
of the music while another part plays a more regular rhythm, as in this passage
45 from Scott Joplin
(see Figure 1.69). Syncopations can happen anywhere: in the melody (Section 2.3), the bass line
(Accompaniment), the rhythm section, the chordal accompaniment (Accompaniment). Any spot in
the rhythm that is normally weak (a weak beat, an upbeat, a sixteenth of a beat, a part of a triplet)
can be given emphasis by a syncopation. It can suddenly be made important by a long or high note
in the melody, a change in direction of the melody, a chord change, or a written accent (pg 57).
Depending on the tempo (Section 1.2.8) of the music and the type of syncopation, a syncopated
rhythm can make the music sound jaunty, jazzy, unsteady, surprising, uncertain, exciting, or just
more interesting.
Figure 1.70: Syncopation can be added just by putting accents (pg 57) in unexpected places.
43 http://cnx.org/content/m11644/latest/metsync.mp3
44 "Ragtime" <http://cnx.org/ content/m10878/latest/>
45 http://cnx.org/content/m11644/latest/sync2.mid
Other musical traditions tend to be more rhythmically complex than Western music, and much
of the syncopation in modern American music is due to the inuence of Non-Western (Section 2.8)
traditions, particularly the African roots of the African-American tradition. Syncopation is such
an important aspect of much American music, in fact, that the type of syncopation used in a piece
is one of the most important clues to the style and genre of the music.
46 , for example,
Ragtime
would hardly be ragtime without the jaunty syncopations in the melody set against the steady
unsyncopated bass. The "swing" rhythm in big-band jazz and the "back-beat" of many types of
rock are also specic types of syncopation. If you want practice hearing syncopations, listen to
some ragtime or jazz. Tap your foot to nd the beat, and then notice how often important musical
"events" are happening "in between" your foot-taps.
1.2.8 Tempo47
The tempo of a piece of music is its speed. There are two ways to specify a tempo. Metronome
markings are absolute and specic. Other tempo markings are verbal descriptions which are more
relative and subjective. Both types of markings usually appear above the sta, at the beginning of
the piece, and then at any spot where the tempo changes. Markings that ask the player to deviate
slightly from the main tempo, such as ritardando (Gradual Tempo Changes) may appear either
above or below the sta.
1.2.8.1 Metronome Markings

Metronome markings are given in beats per minute. They can be estimated using a clock with a
second hand, but the easiest way to nd them is with a metronome, which is a tool that can give
a beat-per-minute tempo as a clicking sound or a pulse of light. Figure 1.71 shows some examples
of metronome markings.
46 "Ragtime" <http://cnx.org/content/m10878/latest/>
49
Figure 1.71
Metronomes often come with other tempo indications written on them, but this is misleading.
For example, a metronome may have allegro marked at 120 beats per minute and andante marked
at 80 beats per minute. Allegro should certainly be quite a bit faster than andante, but it may not
be exactly 120 beats per minute.
1.2.8.2 Tempo Terms

A tempo marking that is a word or phrase gives you the composer's idea of how fast the music should
feel. How fast a piece of music feels depends on several dierent things, including the texture and
complexity of the music, how often the beat gets divided into faster notes, and how fast the beats
themselves are (the metronome marking). Also, the same tempo marking can mean quite dierent
things to dierent composers; if a metronome marking is not available, the performer should use
a knowledge of the music's style and genre, and musical common sense, to decide on the proper
tempo. When possible, listening to a professional play the piece can help with tempo decisions, but
it is also reasonable for dierent performers to prefer slightly dierent tempos for the same piece.
Traditionally, tempo instructions are given in Italian.
Some Common Tempo Markings

• Grave - very slow and solemn (pronounced "GRAH-vay")
• Largo - slow and broad ("LAR-go")
• Larghetto - not quite as slow as largo ("lar-GET-oh")
• Adagio - slow ("uh-DAH-jee-oh")

• Lento - slow ("LEN-toe")
• Andante - literally "walking", a medium slow tempo ("on-DON-tay")
• Moderato - moderate, or medium ("MOD-er-AH-toe")
• Allegretto - Not as fast as allegro ("AL-luh-GRET-oh")
• Allegro - fast ("uh-LAY-grow")
• Vivo, or Vivace - lively and brisk ("VEE-voh")
• Presto - very fast ("PRESS-toe")
• Prestissimo - very, very fast ("press-TEE-see-moe")
These terms, along with a little more Italian, will help you decipher most tempo instructions.
More useful Italian

• (un) poco - a little ("oon POH-koe")
• molto - a lot ("MOLE-toe")
• piu - more ("pew")
• meno - less ("MAY-no")
• mosso - literally "moved"; motion or movement ("MOE-so")
Exercise 1.13:
Check to see how comfortable you are with Italian tempo markings by translating the
following.
1.un poco allegro
2.molto meno mosso
3.piu vivo
4.molto adagio
5.poco piu mosso
Of course, tempo instructions don't have to be given in Italian. Much folk, popular, and modern
music, gives instructions in English or in the composer's language. Tempo indications such as "Not
too fast", "With energy", "Calmly", or "March tempo" give a good idea of how fast the music
should feel.
51
1.2.8.3 Gradual Tempo Changes

If the tempo of a piece of music suddenly changes into a completely dierent tempo, there will be
a new tempo given, usually marked in the same way (metronome tempo, Italian term, etc.) as the
original tempo. Gradual changes in the basic tempo are also common in music, though, and these
have their own set of terms. These terms often appear below the sta, although writing them above
the sta is also allowed. These terms can also appear with modiers (More useful Italian) like molto
or un poco. You may notice that there are quite a few terms for slowing down. Again, the use of
these terms will vary from one composer to the next; unless beginning and ending tempo markings
are included, the performer must simply use good musical judgement to decide how much to slow
down in a particular ritardando or rallentando.
Gradual Tempo Changes
• accelerando - (abbreviated accel.) accelerating; getting faster
• ritardando - (abbrev. rit.) slowing down
• ritenuto - (abbrev. riten.) slower
• rallentando - (abbrev. rall.) gradually slower
• rubato - don't be too strict with the rhythm; while keeping the basic tempo, allow the music
to gently speed up and relax in ways that emphasize the phrasing
• poco a poco - little by little; gradually
• Tempo I - ("tempo one" or "tempo primo") back to the original tempo (this instruction usually
appears above the sta )
1.2.9 Repeats and Other Musical Road Map Signs48

Repetition, either exact or with small or large variations, is one of the basic organizing principles
of music. Repeated notes (Section 1.2.1), motifs (Section 2.3.5), phrases (Section 2.3.4), melodies
(Section 2.3), rhythms (Section 2.1), chord progressions (Chords), and even entire repeated sections
in the overall form (Section 5.7), are all very crucial in helping the listener make sense of the music.
So good music is surprisingly repetitive!
So, in order to save time, ink, and page turns, common notation has many ways to show that a
part of the music should be repeated exactly.
If the repeated part is very small - only one or two measures, for example - the repeat sign will
probably look something like those in Figure 1.72. If you have very many such repeated measures
in a row, you may want to number them (in pencil) to help you keep track of where you are in the
music.
Repeated Measures
Figure 1.72
For repeated sections of medium length - usually four to thirty-two measures - repeat dots
with or without endings are the most common markings. Dots to the right of a double bar line
(Section 1.1.1.1) begin the repeated section; dots to the left of a double bar line end it. If there are
no beginning repeat dots, you should go all the way back to the beginning of the music and repeat
from there.
Repeat Dots
Figure 1.73: If there are no extra instructions, a repeated section should be played twice.
Occasionally you will see extra instructions over the repeat dots, for example to play the section
"3x" (three times).
It is very common for longer repeated sections of music to be repeated exactly until the last few
53
measures. When this happens, the repeat dots will be put in an ending. The bracket over the music
shows you which measures to play each time you arrive at that point in the music. For example,
the second time you reach a set of endings, you will skip the music in all the other endings; play
only the measures in the second ending, and then do whatever the second ending directs you to do
(repeat, go on, skip to somewhere else, etc.).
Repeat Endings
Figure 1.74: Some "endings" of a section of music may include a repeat, while others do not.
Play only one ending each time (skipping over other, previously played endings when necessary),
and then follow the "instructions" at the end of the ending (to repeat, go on, go someplace else,
etc.).
When you are repeating large sections in more informally written music, you may simply nd
instructions in the music such as "to refrain", "to bridge", "to verses", etc. Or you may nd extra
instructions to play certain parts "only on the repeat". Usually these instructions are reasonably
clear, although you may need to study the music for a minute to get the "road map" clear in your
mind. Pencilled-in markings can be a big help if it's dicult to spot the place you need to skip to.
In order to help clarify things, repeat dots and other repeat instructions are almost always marked
by a double bar line (Section 1.1.1.1).
In Western classical music (Section 2.8), the most common instructions for repeating large sec-
tions are traditionally written (or abbreviated) in Italian. The most common instructions from that
tradition are in Figure 1.75.
Other Common "Road Map" Signs
Figure 1.75
Again, instructions can easily get quite complicated, and these large-section markings may require
you to study your part for a minute to see how it is laid out, and even to mark (in pencil) circles
and arrows that help you nd the way quickly while you are playing. Figure 1.76 contains a few
very simplistic examples of how these "road map signs" will work.
55
Figure 1.76: Here are some (shortened) examples of how these types of repeat instructions may
be arranged. These types of signs usually mark longer repeated sections. In many styles of music,
a short repeated section (usually marked with repeat dots) is often not repeated after a da capo
or dal segno.
1.3 Style
1.3.1 Dynamics and Accents49

1.3.1.1 Dynamics
Sounds, including music, can be barely audible, or loud enough to hurt your ears, or anywhere in
between. When they want to talk about the loudness of a sound, scientists and engineers talk about
amplitude (Section 3.1.3). Musicians talk about dynamics. The amplitude of a sound is a particular
number, usually measured in decibels, but dynamics are relative; an orchestra playing fortissimo is
going to be much louder than a single violin playing fortissimo. The exact interpretation of each
dynamic marking in a piece of music depends on:
• comparison with other dynamics in that piece
• the typical dynamic range for that instrument or ensemble

• the abilities of the performer(s)
• the traditions of the musical genre being performed
• the acoustics of the performance space
Traditionally, dynamic markings are based on Italian words, although there is nothing wrong with
simply writing things like "quietly" or "louder" in the music. Forte means loud and piano means
soft. The instrument commonly called the "piano" by the way, was originally called a "pianoforte"
because it could play dynamics, unlike earlier popular keyboard instruments like the harpsichord.
Typical Dynamic Markings
Figure 1.77
When a composer writes a forte into a part, followed by a piano, the intent is for the music to be
quite loud, and then suddenly quite soft. If the composer wants the change from one dynamic level
to another to be gradual, dierent markings are added. A crescendo (pronounced "cresh-EN-doe")
means "gradually get louder"; a decrescendo or diminuendo means "gradually get softer".
57
Gradual Dynamic Markings
Figure 1.78: Here are three dierent ways to write the same thing: start softly (piano), gradually
get louder (crescendo) until the music is loud (forte), then gradually get softer (decrescendo or
diminuendo) until it is soft (piano) again.
1.3.1.2 Accents
A composer may want a particular note to be louder than all the rest, or may want the very
beginning of a note to be loudest. Accents are markings that are used to indicate these especially-
strong-sounding notes. There are a few dierent types of written accents (see Figure 1.79), but,
like dynamics, the proper way to perform a given accent also depends on the instrument playing
it, as well as the style and period of the music. Some accents may even be played by making the
note longer or shorter than the other notes, in addition to, or even instead of being, louder. (See
articulation (Section 1.3.2) for more about accents.)
Common Accents
Figure 1.79: The exact performance of each type of accent depends on the instrument and the
style and period of the music, but the sforzando and fortepiano -type accents are usually louder
and longer, and more likely to be used in a long note that starts loudly and then suddenly gets
much softer. Caret-type accents are more likely to be used to mark shorter notes that should be
stronger than unmarked notes.
1.3.2 Articulation50
1.3.2.1 What is Articulation?
The word articulation generally refers to how the pieces of something are joined together; for
example, how bones are connected to make a skeleton or syllables are connected to make a word.
Articulation depends on what is happening at the beginning and end of each segment, as well as in
between the segments.
In music, the segments are the individual notes of a line in the music. This could be the melodic
(Section 2.3) line, the bass (Accompaniment) line, or a part of the harmony (Section 2.5). The line
might be performed by any musician or group of musicians: a singer, for example, or a bassoonist, a
violin section, or a trumpet and saxophone together. In any case, it is a string of notes that follow
one after the other and that belong together in the music.The articulation is what happens in
between the notes. The attack - the beginning of a note - and the amount of space in between the
notes are particularly important.
1.3.2.2 Performing Articulations

Descriptions of how each articulation is done cannot be given here, because they depend too much
on the particular instrument that is making the music. In other words, the technique that a violin
51
player uses to slur notes will be completely dierent from the technique used by a trumpet
52 player,
and a pianist and a vocalist will do dierent things to make a melody sound legato. In fact, the
violinist will have some articulations available (such as pizzicato, or "plucked") that a trumpet
player will never see.
So if you are wondering how to play slurs on your guitar or staccato on your clarinet, ask your
music teacher or director. What you will nd here is a short list of the most common articulations:
their names, what they look like when notated, and a vague description of how they sound. The
descriptions have to be vague, because articulation, besides depending on the instrument, also
depends on the style of the music. Exactly how much space there should be between staccato
eighth notes, for example, depends on tempo (Section 1.2.8) as well as on whether you're playing
Rossini or Sousa. To give you some idea of the dierence that articulation makes, though, here are

51 "Introduction to the Violin and FAQ" <http://cnx.org/content/m13437/latest/>
52 "Trumpets and Cornets" <http://cnx.org/content/m12606/latest/>
59
audio examples of a violin playing a legato

53 and a staccato54 passage. (For more audio examples
55
of violin articulations, please see Common Violin Terminology .)
1.3.2.3 Common Articulations

Staccato notes are short, with plenty of space between them. Please note that this doesn't mean
that the tempo (Section 1.2.8) or rhythm (Section 2.1) goes any faster. The tempo and rhythm
are not aected by articulations; the staccato notes sound shorter than written only because of the
extra space between them.
Staccato
Figure 1.80
Legato is the opposite of staccato. The notes are very connected; there is no space between the
notes at all. There is, however, still some sort of articulation that causes a slight but denite break
between the notes (for example, the violin player's bow changes direction, the guitar player plucks
the string again, or the wind player uses the tongue to interrupt the stream of air).
Legato
Figure 1.81
Accents - An accent (pg 57) requires that a note stand out more than the unaccented notes
around it. Accents are usually performed by making the accented note, or the beginning of the
53 http://cnx.org/content/m11884/latest/artleg.mp3
54 http://cnx.org/content/m11884/latest/artstacc.mp3
55 "Common Violin Terminology" <http://cnx.org/content/m13316/latest/>
accented note, louder than the rest of the music. Although this is mostly a quick change in dynamics
(Section 1.3.1), it usually aects the articulation of the note, too. The extra loudness of the note often
requires a stronger, more denite attack at the beginning of the accented note, and it is emphasized
by putting some space before and after the accented notes. The eect of a lot of accented notes in
a row may sound marcato (pg 62).
Accents
Figure 1.82: The performance of an accent depends on the style of music, but in general,
sforzando and fortepiano accents involve a loud beginning to a longer note. They are usually
heavier and longer than caret-type accents, which often rely more on a powerful attack (pg 58) to
make a short note louder than the notes around it.
A slur is marked by a curved line joining any number of notes. When notes are slurred, only the
rst note under each slur marking has a denite articulation at the beginning. The rest of the notes
are so seamlessly connected that there is no break between the notes. A good example of slurring
occurs when a vocalist sings more than one note on the same syllable of text.
Slurs
Figure 1.83
A tie (Section 1.2.6.3) looks like a slur, but it is between two notes that are the same pitch. A
tie is not really an articulation marking. It is included here because it looks like one, which can
cause confusion for beginners. When notes are tied together, they are played as if they are one single
note that is the length of all the notes that are tied together. (Please see Dots, Ties, and Borrowed
Divisions (Section 1.2.6).)
61
Slurs vs. Ties
Figure 1.84: A slur marking indicates no articulation - no break in the sound - between notes of
dierent pitches. A tie is used between two notes of the same pitch. Since there is no articulation
between them, they sound like a single note. The tied quarters here would sound exactly like a
half note crossing the bar line. Like a note that crosses bar lines, the two-and-a-half-beat "note"
in the fourth bar would be dicult to write without using a tie.
A portamento is a smooth glide between the two notes, including all the pitches (Section 1.1.3)
56 and trombone57 , this includes even the pitches in
in between. For some instruments, like violin
58
between the written notes. For other instruments, such as guitar , it means sliding through all of
the possible notes between the two written pitches.
Portamento
Figure 1.85
Although unusual in traditional common notation (Section 1.1.1), a type of portamento that
includes only one written pitch can be found in some styles of music, notably jazz, blues, and rock.
As the notation (Figure 1.86) suggests, the proper performance of scoops and fall-os requires
that the portamento begins (in scoops) or ends (in fall-os) with the slide itself, rather than with a
specic note.
56 "Introduction to the Violin and FAQ" <http://cnx.org/content/m13437/latest/>

57 "Trombones" <http://cnx.org/content/m12602/latest/>
58 "Guitars" <http://cnx.org/content/m12745/latest/>
Scoops and Fall-os
Figure 1.86: The notation for scoops and fall-os has not been standardized, but either one will
look something like a portamento or slur with a note on one end only.
Some articulations may be some combination of staccato, legato, and accent. Marcato, for
example means "marked" in the sense of "stressed" or "noticeable". Notes marked marcato have
enough of an accent and/or enough space between them to make each note seem stressed or set
apart. They are usually longer than staccato but shorter than legato. Other notes may be marked
with a combination of articulation symbols, for example legato with accents. As always, the best
way to perform such notes depends on the instrument and the style of the music.
Some Possible Combination Markings
Figure 1.87
Plenty of music has no articulation marks at all, or marks on only a few notes. Often, such
music calls for notes that are a little more separate or dened than legato, but still nowhere as
short as staccato. Mostly, though, it is up to the performer to know what is considered proper for
a particular piece. For example, most ballads are sung legato, and most marches are played fairly
staccato or marcato, whether they are marked that way or not. Furthermore, singing or playing a
phrase (Section 2.3.4) with musicianship often requires knowing which notes of the phrase should be
legato, which should be more separate, where to add a little portamento, and so on. This does not
mean the best players consciously decide how to play each note. Good articulation comes naturally
to the musician who has mastered the instrument and the style of the music.
63
Solutions to Exercises in Chapter 1
Solution to Exercise 1.1 (p. 12):
Figure 1.88

Figure 1.89 shows the answers for treble and bass clef. If you have done another clef, have your
teacher check your answers.
Figure 1.89

Figure 1.90 shows the answers for treble clef, and Figure 1.91 the answers for bass clef. If you
are working in a more unusual clef, have your teacher check your answers.
65
Figure 1.90
Figure 1.91
67
Figure 1.92

• C sharp and D at
• F sharp and G at
• G sharp and A at
• A sharp and B at
Figure 1.93

1. F at; D double sharp
2. C at; A double sharp
3. B sharp; D double at
4. F double sharp; A double at
5. G double sharp; B double at

Figure 1.94
Figure 1.95
69
Figure 1.96

• A has a very strong, quick 1-2-3 beat.
• B is in a slow (easy) 2. You may feel it in a fast 4.
• C is in a stately 4.
• D is in 3, but the beat may be harder to feel than in A because the rhythms are more complex
and the performer is taking some liberties with the tempo (Section 1.2.8).

There are an enormous number of possible note combinations for any time signature. That's one
of the things that makes music interesting. Here are some possibilities. If you are not sure that
yours are correct, check with your music instructor.
Figure 1.97: These are only a few of the many, many possible note combinations that could be
used in these time signatures.
Figure 1.98

1. a little fast
2. much less motion = much slower
3. more lively = faster
4. very slow
5. a little more motion = a little faster

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Chapter 1

1.1.1 The Sta1

1 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m10880/2.9/>.

Other Symbols on the Sta

1.1.1.2 Groups of staves

3 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m10941/2.15/>.

1.1.2.2 Memorizing the Notes in Bass and Treble Clef

1.1.2.3 Moveable Clefs

Figure 1.7: All of the notes on this sta are middle C.

Moveable G and F Clefs

1.1.2.4 Why use dierent clefs?

(Solution to Exercise 1.1 on p. 63.)

(Solution to Exercise 1.2 on p. 64.)

(Solution to Exercise 1.3 on p. 64.)

1.1.3 Pitch: Sharp, Flat, and Natural Notes6

6 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m10943/2.9/>.

1.1.4 Key Signature8

8 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m10881/2.11/>.

(Solution to Exercise 1.4 on p. 67.)

1.1.5 Enharmonic Spelling9

9 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m11641/1.9/>.

(Solution to Exercise 1.6 on p. 67.)

1.1.5.2 Enharmonic Keys and Scales

(Solution to Exercise 1.7 on p. 68.)

1.1.5.3 Enharmonic Intervals and Chords

1.1.5.4 Enharmonic Spellings and Equal Temperament

1.2.1 Duration: Note Lengths in Written Music11

The Parts of a Note

11 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m10945/2.9/>.

Notes Without Heads

1.2.1.2 The Length of a Note

Most Common Note Lengths

Notes with Beams

(Solution to Exercise 1.8 on p. 68.)

1.2.1.3 More about Stems

Basic Stem Direction Rules

1.2.2 Duration: Rest Length13

The Most Common Rests

13 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m11887/1.4/>.

(Solution to Exercise 1.9 on p. 69.)

1.2.3 Time Signature14

14 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m10956/2.9/>.

1.2.3.1 Beats and Measures

Reading the Time Signature

1.2.3.2 Meter: Reading Time Signatures

20 "Fractions, Multiples, Beats, and Measures" <http://cnx.org/content/m11807/latest/>

1.Two four time

2.Three eight time

3.Six four time

(Solution to Exercise 1.11 on p. 69.)

1.2.3.3 Counting and Conducting

1.2.4.2 Classifying Meters

1.2.4.3 Recognizing Meters

24 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m12405/1.7/>.

1.2.5 Pickup Notes and Measures38

1.2.5.2 Pickup Notes

1.2.6 Dots, Ties, and Borrowed Divisions40

1.2.6.1 Dotted Notes

(Solution to Exercise 1.12 on p. 70.)

1.2.6.2 Tied Notes

1.1.1 The Sta1

Other Symbols on the Sta

Figure 1.7: All of the notes on this sta are middle C.

1.1.2.4 Why use dierent clefs?

Scoops and Fall-os

• F sharp and G at

• G sharp and A at

• A sharp and B at

2. C at; A double sharp

3. B sharp; D double at

4. F double sharp; A double at

5. G double sharp; B double at