Music Theory

MUSIC THEORY – BASICS
LESSON 1
(The Staff, Clefs, Ledger Lines, Grand Staff, Accidentals)
The staff is the foundation upon which notes are drawn.
The modern staff comprises five lines and four spaces.
Every line or space on the staff represents a white key on the keyboard.
Clefs assign individual notes to certain lines or spaces
Two clefs are normally used: the Treble and Bass clefs
The staff line which the clef wraps around (shown in red) is known as G. Any note placed on this line
becomes G. The note on the space above G is A. The note on the line above A is B. This process
continues.
A ledger line is a small line that extends the staff when we run out of room. With the ledger line drawn,
we can place the A.
The staff line in between the two dots of the bass clef is F.
Grand Staff is a theoretical staff consisting of eleven lines.
When we eliminate the middle line, we end up with two regular staff. By adding a Treble Clef to the top
staff and a Bass Clef to the bottom staff, we can see the relationship between the two staffs. Notice how
the two clefs are “joined” by the C (shown in red). This C is commonly called “middle C” since it
corresponds to the middle staff line on the Grand Staff.
Every line of the treble staff starting from the bottom gives the notes E G B D F. To memorize it easily,
remember, “Every Good Boys Does Fine”. The spaces of the treble staff starting from the bottom gives
the notes F A C E, or simply remember “FACE” (Dagway).
Every line of the bass staff starting from the bottom gives the notes G B D F A. To memorize it easily,
remember, “Good Boys Do Fine Always”. The spaces of the bass staff starting from the bottom gives
the notes A C E G, or simply remember “All Cars Eat Gas”.
An accidental is a sign used to raise or lower the pitch of a note. The first accidentals that we will discuss
are the flat and the sharp. The flat lowers a note by a half step while the sharp raises a note by a half
step.
*Whenever a certain pitch has multiple names, it is called enharmonic spelling.
Next, let’s discuss the double flat and the double sharp. While flats and sharps alter a note by a half
step, the double flat and double sharp alter a note by a whole step.
Finally, a natural cancels out any accidental and returns a note to its original key.
MUSIC THEORY – BASICS
LESSON 2
(Notes & Rests, Measures & Bar Lines, Time Signatures,
Dotted Half & Dotted Quarter Notes, Ties)
The length of time that a note is played is called its note duration, which is determined by the type of
note.
The whole note has the longest note duration in modern music.
The half note has half the duration of a whole note.
Two half notes occupy the same amount of time as one whole note.
The quarter note is a fourth (or a quarter) of a whole note.

Four quarter notes occupy the same amount of time as one whole note. Two quarter notes equal the
duration of a half note.
Notes smaller in duration than a quarter note has flags. Each flag halves the value of a note. An eighth
note has one flag. Therefore, two eight notes occupy the same amount of time as one quarter note.
A sixteenth note has two flags, halving the value again. Two sixteenth notes equal the duration of an
eighth note. Four sixteenth notes occupy the same amount of time as one quarter note.
Note Chart:
Vertical black bars called bar lines divide the staff into measures. This staff has been split into two
measures.
Time signatures define the amount and type of notes that each measure contains. The first measure is in
4/4 time and the second measure is in the 3/4 time. The first measure (4/4) contains four quarter notes.
The second measure (3/4) contains three quarter notes.
Next, we will discuss non-quarter-note time signatures. 6/8 time contains six eighth notes. 3/2 time
contains three half notes.
This chart displays all of the time signatures that we discussed:

Rests represent periods of silence in a measure. Each type of rest shares a duration with a certain type
of note.
Demonstrate:
Rest Duration Chart:

Augmentation dots and tenuto ties are two types of markings used to alter a note’s duration.
A dot increases duration by one half.
Since an eighth note is half the duration of a quarter note, we will substitute it for the 1/2 symbol.
A dotted quarter note can also equal three eighth notes.
Ties merge multiple notes of the same pitch. They are used to let the duration of a note travel across
barriers (such as the measure line in this example).
Augmentation dots chart:

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MUSIC THEORY – BASICS

The modern staff comprises five lines and four spaces.

Clefs assign individual notes to certain lines or spaces

Grand Staff is a theoretical staff consisting of eleven lines.

*Whenever a certain pitch has multiple names, it is called enharmonic spelling.

The half note has half the duration of a whole note.

The quarter note is a fourth (or a quarter) of a whole note.

This chart displays all of the time signatures that we discussed:

Rest Duration Chart:

A dot increases duration by one half.

A dotted quarter note can also equal three eighth notes.

Augmentation dots chart:

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