HOWTOREADMUSIC

ForBeginners

ASimpleandEffectiveGuidetoUnderstandingandReadingMusicwith

Ease

NicolasCarter

©2017

Copyright©2017byNicolasCarter-AllRightsReservedThisdocumentislicensedforyourpersonalenjoymentonly.Itisgearedtowardprovidingexactandreliableinformationinregardtothecoveredtopic.Thepresentationofthe

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INTRODUCTION

MUSICTHEORYCOMPANIONBOOK

1.WESTERNMUSICALNOTATION

1.1.TheMusicalStaffandItsElements

1.2.Title/Subtitle

1.3.Composer

1.4.Arranger

1.5.Instrument(s)

1.6.StaffLines

1.7.LedgerLines

1.8.Clef

1.9.KeySignature

1.10.TimeSignature

1.11.Tempo

1.12.BarsandBarLinesSingleBarLinesDoubleBarLines

HeavyDoubleBarLines

1.13.Notes

1.14.RestsBeat-lengthRestsBar-lengthRests“Tacet”

1.15.Repeats

1.16.Codas

1.17.Endings

1.18.FormIntroductionsFormLetters/SectionTitlesTags

1.19.BracketsandAccolades

2.UNDERSTANDINGCLEFS

2.1.StandardPitchandMiddleC

2.2.TheRoleofClefsandtheMostCommonTypes

2.3.TheTrebleClef

2.4.TheBassClef

2.5.RememberingtheNotes

2.6.TheGrandStave

2.7.OctaveTransposition

2.8.OtherClefs2.8.1.PercussionClef2.8.2.Tablature

3.TIMEFORSIGNATURES

3.1.TimeSignatures

3.2.KeySignatures

3.3.TheCircleofFifths

3.4.RulesandGuidelinestoKeepinMind

3.5.HowtoReadKeySignaturesQuickly

3.6.KeySignaturesinFourMostCommonClefs(Reference)

4.SOLFEGE

4.1.Fixed“Do”

4.2.Moveable“Do”

5.HOWTOREADNOTES

5.1.NoteValues

5.2.Sharps,FlatsandNaturals(Accidentals)

5.3.ReadingSingleNotes

5.4.ReadingChords5.4.1.ChordSymbols

5.5.WhatisaLeadSheet?

6.HOWTOREADRHYTHM

6.1.RhythmicValues

6.2.NoteDurations6.2.1.DottedNotes6.2.2.Tuplets6.2.3.Rests6.2.4.TiesandSlurs

6.3.BeatCounting

6.4.BuildingBlocksofRhythm-MakeComplex

RhythmsEasytoRead

6.5.Tempo

6.6.ClappingtheBeat

6.7.Polyrhythm

6.8.Polymeter

7.DYNAMICSANDARTICULATION

7.1.Dynamics

7.2.Articulation

7.3.Techniques

CONCLUSION

APPENDIXA–HOWTOPRACTICE

APPENDIXB-EXERCISES

OTHERBOOKSBYNICOLASCARTER

INTRODUCTION

What we call “Common notation” is, compared to the long history ofmusicalsounds,arelativenewborn.Itwasnotthefirstformofmusicalnotationandmusicalnotationwasnotbornasearlyastheearliestmusic.However,whenyoulookatasheetofmusic,youarelookingatmorethannotesonapage–youare lookingatahistory.There isagenealogy toeverypieceofmusic thathasbeenwrittendownthattranscendsthespecifichistorythatpiece’screation.Eachtime someone transcribes or composes a piece of music using the westerntradition’s common notation practices, they recall the history—from Bach toSchoenbergtoColtrane—thatprecededthatnotation.Thehistoryofthemusicisinpartthehistoryofitsbeingwrittendown,andthewritingofthethingbearsonitscontentinsomeimportantways.Thereisnowaytounderstandmodernmusictheory without also understanding modern musical notation, no way to makesense of a piece’s formal structure in any of the standard ways without alsomakingsenseofthatpieceonthepage.

Commonnotationishowwespeaktooneanother,itishowwelearnmusic,howweshareit,howweanalyzeandunderstandit,and,justasimportantly,itishowweteachit. Itmaynotbenecessaryforeverypracticingmusiciantoreadmusic as a second language, but it is absolutely essential to the professionalpracticeofbeingamusicianthattheyunderstandhowcommonnotationworks,howapieceofwrittenmusicisconstructed,howtheycanlearnaboutthatmusicbyreadingitonthepage,andhowtheycanwritetheirownmusiconthepageinordertoshareit.

Thisguide ismeant to instruct theuninitiated in thewaysandmethodsofcommonmusicalnotation.Itisspecificallyabookaboutcommonnotation(andtablature explanation) – not about chord analysis, Nashville notation, or anyotherwaysofcommunicatingmusic.Thegoalofthisbookis:

Tohelpyou—thereaderwhohaslittleornoknowledgeofwhatapieceofsheetmusicdoesandsays—understandhowthatsheetworks.

Togetyoutoexperienceandpracticesightreading(theactofreadinganddirectlyperformingapieceofmusicwrittendownonamusicsheetusingcommonnotation).

Thefinalaimis,whileperhapsnotfluencyofthesortthatthosemusicianswhohavestudiedcommonnotationfordecadesposses,atleastasenseofunderstandingthatwillhelpyouasyoumoveforwardasamusician.

Music is part raw sensation and part linguistic phenomenon, and like all

languagesithasrules–formalandotherwise–forcommunication.Thefieldofmusicalnotation ispopulatedby linguisticobjects that conform to these rules,andunderstandingwhatthoseobjectsare,whattheymean,andhowtheywork(whatrulestheyfollow)willhelpyouinanumberoflikelyunforeseenways.

MUSICTHEORYCOMPANIONBOOK

Thisguide ismeant to introduce thereader to thesyntaxandsemanticsofthewrittenwordofmusic.Itisnot,initself,aguidetothestructureofthemusicthatwewrite down – the harmonic,melodic, and rhythmic forms that governmostofthemusicwrittenorperformedinthewestinthemodernera.Thatistheprovinceofmusictheory,whichisafundamentallydifferentthingthanmusicalnotation.However,thetwoarelinkedinavarietyofimportantways–ateveryturn,itseems,notationandtheoryworktogether.Forthatreason,therewillbecausetolapseintotheoreticalexplanationsinthisworkfromtimetotime.

Thereaderisstronglyurged,however,tohaveaguidedesignedtointroducethem specifically to theory. This book is in some ways designed to have asibling,andthatsiblingismyMusicTheory:FromAbsoluteBeginnertoExpertbook,whichIstronglyrecommendthatyoureadbefore(ifyou’renewtomusictheory)oralongsidethisbook.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JX6EFKW

This is an in-depth book that dives into how music theory works and

explains everything in an easy to follow way. It helps you build a solidfoundationbyexplainingimportantconceptsinawaythatfacilitatespracticalityand understanding. These two books together form a body of knowledge thatwillbeoftremendoususetoanymusician.

1.WESTERNMUSICALNOTATION

1.1.TheMusicalStaffandItsElements

Figure1.1.RefertothisfiguretoidentifythepartsofthestaffAsheetofmusicisatthesametimemoreandlessexpressivethanapagefromabook:lessexpressivebecause

therearefewervariations,fewerfine-graineddistinctionsandnamesandsyntacticarrangementsthatarepossibleonasheetofmusic(using,atleast,thestandardnotationpractices);andmoreexpressivebecauseasheetofmusic

communicatesanarrayofinformationwithextraordinaryspeed.

Eachelementofa sheet– from the title to thestaff itself– isdesigned tocommunicatesomething,andsometimes,asisthecasewithaparticularnoteonthestaff,theyaredesignedtocommunicatemorethanonethingatonce(pitchaswell as length, for instance). Taken in the first case as units unto themselves,eachoftheseelementsisimportantandworthyofvaryingdegreesofattention.In time, it is possible to learn to process this information very quickly inaggregate,butthewaytogetthereistobeginwiththeminisolation,wrappingyourheadaroundeachoftheelementsofthestaffandofthesheet.

Solet’slookateachelementseparately.

1.2.Title/Subtitle

The title of a piece of music is located at the top of the sheet of music,usuallywrittenclearly inbold letters. It is the first thingyou seeon thepage.TheSubtitleusuallyfollowsrightbeneaththetitle.

1.3.Composer

Thenameofthecomposerofapieceofmusicislistedbelowthetitleofthepiece.Note that this isoftendistinct fromthearrangerof thepiece,whichcanalso be distinct from the personwho transcribed the piece (transcribing in thesimplesttermsistheactoffiguringoutbyearandwritingdownhowtoplayacomposition usually for amedium other than that for which it was originallywritten).

1.4.Arranger

Thenameofthearrangerofapieceofmusicislistedalongwiththatpiece'scomposer (if the song was arranged by someone other than the composerhim/herself).Ifthemusicscoreisexactlyhowthecomposeroriginallyarrangeditthisattributionisomitted.

1.5.Instrument(s)

Totheleftofthestaff,youcanfindthenameoftheinstrumentthatstaffisnotating.Inthecaseofaleadsheet(moreonleadsheetslater)theremaynotbean instrument listed. A sheet of music may contain the information for oneinstrument -- theseare the sheets thatwouldbegivenout individually toeachinstrumentalistinanorchestra,ortheymaycontainallofthestaves("staves"istheplural of "staff") for an entirepiece (for an entireorchestral arrangement).Theselattersheetsareoftenquitelongandareintendedforuseby,forinstance,aconductororbandleader.Theyarealsousedtoanalyzethestructureandthecontentofcomplexpiecesofmusic.

1.6.StaffLines

The heart of a piece of sheet music is the staff itself. This consists ofmultipleparts,butthemostfundamentalarethehorizontallinesrunningacrossthepage.Thesearetheskeletonofthestafforstaves,andtheycontainmuchofthe information that will be used to communicate the harmonic and melodiccontentofapiece.

Eachstaffcontainsfivehorizontallines.Eachofthoselines,aswellaseach

ofthespacesbetweenthoselines,denotesaparticularnote,orpitch.Theexactnotedenotedby those lines isdeterminedby thestaff'sclef (moreon this inaseparate section), but in themost commonclef – the treble clef (shownat thebeginningof thestaffonFigure1)– thenotesareas follows:Frombottomtotop, the five linesof the trebleclefdenote:E (abovemiddleC–moreon thissoon),G,B,D,andF.

Figure1.6.1.

Frombottomtotop,thefourspacesbetweenthoselinesdenote:F,A,C(anoctaveabovemiddleC),E.

Figure1.6.2.

Notice that notes ascendbyone letter each as youmoveup the lines andspaces,anddescendbyonelettereachasyoumovedownthelinesandspaces.

Figure1.6.3.Thetrebleclefatthebeginningofthestaffdeterminesthenotenamesandtheirpitchesoneachofthelinesandspacesin-between.

These letters represent the notes of the CMajor scale (or its enharmonicequivalent,theAMinorscale).Aswewillsee,thissetofnotescanbealteredbychangingthekeyofthepiece.Whenthekeyhasbeenchanged,thesenotesarechangedtorepresentthediatonicmajor(orrelativeminor)scaleassociatedwiththat key. Without key alteration, however, those notes – descending toascending;E,F,G,A,B,C,D,E,F–arethenotesofthestaffinstandardtrebleclef.

1.7.LedgerLines

Afinalnoteonthelinesofthestaff:Itmayalreadybeclearthatthesenotes-- fromEabovemiddleC to theFof thenextoctave– arenot enough.Theyaren'tenoughtonotatethefullpitchrangeofaninstrument,evenoneforwhichtrebleclefisdesigned,suchasaguitar.

In order to meet the needs of the full range of an instrument and a

composition,itispossibletoextendthestaffupaswellasdown.Thisisdonebyplacingsmallextension lines,called“ledger lines”,aboveorbeneath thestaff,andusingthoselinestonotatethemusicthatextends(intermsofpitch)beloworabovetheexistingstaffrange.Thesenotesfollowthesamerulesasthenotesthat fall on a not extended staff – they ascend and descend by single scaledegrees.

Extendingthestaffupordownsimplyextendsthescalethatoneiswriting

in thus covering more octaves (the scale – most often diatonic – that isrepresentedbythestaffinacertainkeywillrepeataboveandbelowthatstaff).

1.8.Clef

Theclefinwhichapieceiswrittendeterminesthenotevaluesofthelinesonthestaff(andtherespectivespacesbetweenthoselines).Theclefistheveryfirstthingthatiswrittenonastaff–itisthefurthestthingtotheleftofthepage,and it iswrittenon each lineof the staff down thepage.Clefs are the crucialelementofthestaffandtheywillbeexplainedin-depthinadedicatedsection.

1.9.KeySignature

Totheimmediaterightoftheclef,beforethetimesignature,oneachlineofthestaffisplacedthekeysignature.Thekeysignaturedetermineshowthesevennotesmarkedbythestaffarealteredinordertocreatewhateverscalethepieceofmusiciswrittenin.InthecaseofCmajororAminorkey(asonfigure1.1.2),noalterationisneededtothosenotes,andsothekeysignaturespaceisempty,butforeveryotherkey,diatonicorotherwise,thesevennotesofthatkeycanbethoughtofasalterationstothesevennotesofCmajor,andsodeterminingandnotatingthekeyofthemusicisassimpleasplacingsharpsorflatsonthestafflinesthemselves.

Thisisthekeysignature–somearrangementofsharpsorflats(indiatonic

keysitisalwaysoneortheother),ingeneralrangingfromonetosixalterations(6 sharps/flats, but sometimes more). The key signatures themselves arestandardized, so that, for instance,Bbmajor is alwayswritten down the sameway (this allows the instrumentalist to quickly recognize the key of the songafterhavingmemorizedeachkeysignature).Morewillbesaidonkeysignaturesinalatersection.

1.10.TimeSignature

Totherightofthekeysignatureonthestaffisthetimesignature.Thistellsthemusician how to count the beat of themusic, and it also determines howmanynotesandrestsofaparticularrhythmicvaluefitintoabarofmusic–abarbeingthefundamentalunitoftimeinmusic,thelengthofwhichisdeterminedbythetimesignature.

Thetimesignatureisexpressedasaratio—onenumberontopandanother

onthebottom(seefig.1.1.2.).Therewillbemoretosayabouttimesignaturesandtheirvarietyinadedicatedsection,butfornowitisenoughtonotethatitisgiven to the right of the key signature at the beginning of the piece (andwhenever it changes) and that it is a ratio – a ratio,without getting fully intodetail just now, that expresses the count (on the number on top) of somerhythmicvalue(thenumberonbottom)thatgoesintoeachbar.Forexample,the4/4timesignaturesimplyreadsasfourquarternotesinonebar,6/8wouldbesixeightnotesinonebar,andsoon.

Thetimesignature,likethekeysignature,canbechangedduringapieceof

music,andwhenitischangedthenewsignatureisinsertedatthebeginningofwhateverbarthechangeoccursat.

1.11.Tempo

Thefinalpieceofinformationthatisimmediatelygiventotheperformeronasheetofmusicisthepiece’stempo.Historically,thiswascommunicatedwithwritten words—often in Italian—such as “allegro” and “vivace,” but it iscommonincontemporarymusic,andparticularlyinpopandjazz,forasheettosimplynotetheprecisetemponumerically(settingthevalueofaquarternoteto,forinstance,80or120,whichmeansthattherearethatmanyquarternotesinaminute).

Setting the beats per minute, or BPM, of a piece reduces any confusion

abouttheexactpaceatwhichthepieceismeanttobeplayed,althoughitisstillcustomaryinsomecompositionalpracticestousetheoldclassicalterms.

Thetempoisnotlistedonthebarinthewaythattheclef,keysignature,and

timesignatureare,and itdoesnotget listedmore thanonce(it isnot repeatedwitheachnewline)unless the tempoof thepiecechanges incourse(inwhichcasethetempochangeismarkedatthelocationofthatchange).Insteadofbeingnotatedonthestaffitself,thewordsornumericalvalueislisted,atthebeginningofthepiece,abovethestaffontheleftsideofthepage.

1.12.BarsandBarLines

A staff is divided horizontally into bars (ormeasures),which are units ofrhythmthatallowthemusictobedividedevenlyandcounted.Unlessthetimesignature has been changed, each bar contains the same amount of rhythmicmaterial,and ifneither the timesignaturenor the tempo ischanged, theneachbartakesupthesameamountoftime.

Ingeneral, bars aredividedbyvertical linesmoving across thehorizontal

linesofthestaff.Thereare,however,morewaysthanonethatthisisdone.Each composition is made up of a particular number of bars which are

usuallynumberedinnumericalorder.Thismakesiteasiertorefertothemlater.Barnumberisusuallywrittenrightatbeginningofthestaffabovetheclef(seefigure1.12.1.).

SingleBarLines

Standard bar lines are single, light lines that divide one bar from anotherwithin the same sectionof apieceofmusic.These are far andaway themostcommonbarlines.

DoubleBarLines

Figure1.12.1.Notethedoublebarlinesattheendofthetenthbar(thethirdbarpictured)Doublebarlinesareusedtodividesectionsofapiecefromeachother.Inadditiontomarkingtheendofonebarandthebeginningofanother,theyperformthefunctionofmarkingtheendofonesectionofthemusicalpieceandthe

beginningofanewsection.

HeavyDoubleBarLines

Figure1.12.2.Notetheheavybarlinesattheendofthetenthbar.

Heavydoublebar lines areused to endapieceofmusic.Thesemarknotonlytheendofabarandofasectionbutalsotheendofacomposition.

1.13.Notes

Notesare themeatofabar.Theyindicate thesoundsthataremadebyaninstrument.Anoteconsistsofthreethings:1.Notehead2. Stem (straight line coming from the note head, positioned upwards ordownwards)3.Noteflag(curvedlinecomingofthetopofthestem–onlyeightandshorternoteshaveflags;thisisexplainedintherhythmsection)Therewillbemuchmoretosayaboutnotesinthecourseofthisbook,butfornowwecansaysimplythatanote,writtenonastaff,tellsustwoimportantthings:1.Ittellsuswhatpitchistobeproducedbyaninstrument,and2.Ittellsushowlongthatpitchistobeproducedfor.

Theplacementonthestaffitself—whereitisvertically—tellstheperformerwhichnotetoplay(whichpitch),whiletheshapeofthenoteasitisnotatedtellsthe performer how long to hold that note for (there are, for instance, quarternotes,withtheirowndistinctshape,thatinstructtheplayertoholdthetoneforasinglebeat,oraquarterofastandardbarin4/4time).

The notes on the staff can stand single or they can be connected (this iscalled‘beaming’),andwiththeirstemspositionedupordown.

Thedecisionforacomposertowritenotestemsupordownispreference.Ingeneral,somearewrittenup(whenthenoteislowonthestaff)andothersarewrittendown(whenthenoteishighonthestaff).Itjustmakesiteasiertowriteandread.

Thechoicetoconnectorbeamthenotesissometimesduetothewaythey

are grouped together rhythmically -- like in a triplet. Other times, it is just aconvention,awaytomakeitlookbetterandeasiertoread(when,forinstance,notes are rising or falling in order for a period of time). It is important toemphasizethatonlynoteswithaflagcanbebeamed(eightnotesandshorter).

1.14.Rests

Figure1.13NoticethetworestsinthefirstbarSincemusicconsistsbothofsoundandsilence,timeswhenamusicianisplayingandtimeswhentheyarenot,writtenmusicconsistsbothofnotatedpitches(notes)andthespacebetweenthose

pitcheswhenthemusicianisnotplaying.Thesespacesarecalledrests,andtheymustbeusedtofillallofthespacesbetweennotesinordertoadduptothetotal

valueofabar.

For example, if a standard 4/4 bar is being used, then there is a certainamount of available space (totaling four quarter notes, or eight eight notes, orsomethingofequalvalue).Ifthreequarternotes(threebeats)arenotated,andiftherestofthebarismeanttobesilent,thenthecomposerneedstoinsertaresttofill therestof thebarup. In thiscase, therestwouldbeaquarternoterest,which is a kind of beat-length rest. Therewill bemore on rests as this guideprogresses.Fornow,wewillsaythatthereareingeneralthreetypesofnotatedrests:1.Beat-length2.Bar-length3.“Tacet”rests.

Beat-lengthRests

Abeat-lengthresttakesupthesameamountofspaceasagivennumberofbeats.Itcanbeaquarternoterest,aneighthnoterest,ahalfnoterest,oritcanbegreaterorlessthananyofthose,uptoawholenoterest(takingupthesamespaceasfourbeats,orafullbarin4/4time).

Bar-lengthRests

A bar-length ormeasure-length rest instructs the player to rest for one ormore bars at a time. These are useful during passages when an instrument iswaitingforotherinstrumentstofinishtheirparts.

“Tacet”

Duringlongperiodsofresting,whenaparticularinstrumentisnotplaying(perhaps theydonotplayduring thissectionofmusicatall), theword“tacet”maybewrittenonthestaff,instructingtheperformingtorestforalongperiodoftime(untilotherwisenotated),forinstancewhenamusicianissilentforawholemovement.Theword“tacet”isLatinanditmeans:itissilent.

1.15.Repeats

Figure1.14.

Whenasectionofmusic is toberepeated,even if it is tobevariedat theendontherepetition,arepeatisofteninsertedintothescore,markingtheplacewhereaperformerismeanttostopandgobacktoapredeterminedpointinordertorepeatthesection.TherepeatlookslikeaheavydoublebarlinesbutwithtwoblackdotsasshownonFig.1.14.

1.16.Codas

Figure1.15.Acodaisusedtowriteanendingtoapieceofmusicorasectionofapiece,

particularlywhenthesectionthatimmediatelyprecedestheendinginthemusicisnotthesectionthatimmediatelyprecedesitonthepage(forinstance,whenarepeathasbeenused).

Theseareoftenusedasfollows:Acodaiswrittenattheendofthesection

orpiece(markedbythecodasign).Then,anothercodasymbolisplacedearlierinthepiece.Thewords"D.C.AlCoda"arewrittensomewherebetweenthosetwo symbols, and when the player reaches those words, they return to thebeginningof thepiece,play it throughuntil theyreach thefirstcodasign,andthenskiptothesecondcodasignandplaythecoda(theending,ortail).

1.17.Endings

Whenasectionofmusicisrepeated,itispossibletowritemultipledifferentendings into the score. This is achieved by numbering the endings andinstructingtheperformertoplaythemonsubsequentrepetitionsoftherepeatedsection.

1.18.Form

There are various ways of notating the form of a piece of music. Theseincludeusingintroductionsandendings,aswellasformlettersorsectiontitles.

Introductions

Anintroductionoccursbeforethebodyofthepieceandisusedtoprefacethepieceitself.

FormLetters/SectionTitles

Formlettersandsectiontitleareusedtocuetheshiftsbetweensectionsofapiece of music. In commonWestern music section titles often include: Intro,Verse,Pre-Chorus,Chorus,Bridge,Solo,Ending,etc.

Tags

A tag isanending thatextends the finalphraseofapiece,oftenaddingafewbeats(sometimeslessthanafullbarinlength).

1.19.BracketsandAccolades

Twoormorestavescanbeconnectedwithavertical lineat thebeginningthuscreatingasystemofstaves,whichindicatesthatthemusicwrittenonthesestavesistobeplayedsimultaneously.Thislinecanalsobeabracketandbrace.

Bracketsindicatethatthemusiconthestavesistobeplayedsimultaneouslybymultiple instruments. They are shown as an additional vertical joining thestaves.

Figure1.18.1.AbracketAbrace(alsocalledan“accolade”)ontheotherhandindicatesthatthemusicwrittenontestavesistobeplayedsimultaneouslybya

singleinstrument,suchasharporpiano.

Figure1.18.2.Abrace/accolade

2.UNDERSTANDINGCLEFS

2.1.StandardPitchandMiddleC

Weknowthatthereareonly12notesinWesternmusicandthateachnotehas its ownpitch:A,A#/Bb,B,C,C#/Db,D,D#/Eb,E,F,F#/Gb,G,G#/AbThesenotesrepeatthemselvesaftereachoctaveandgoincirclefromhighertolowerregisters,orviceversa.Eachnoteispre-determinedtovibrateatacertainfrequencyandthatfrequencyismeasuredinHertz(Hz).

Someinstrumentshaveverybigranges.Pianoistheprimeexampleofthat

– on a full size piano keyboard there are 88 keys, whichmeans there are 88differentpitchesthatcanbeproduced,whichisasmanyas7octaves.Anoctave,if you remember, is just the distance between one note and that same noterepeatedinthenexthigherorlowerregister.

Figure2.1.AnoctavewiththemiddleCiscalledtheMiddleoctave–it’sthe4thoctaveonafullsizepianoIfyoulookatthefigureaboveyoucanseethatthedistancebetweenC3andC4isexactlyoneoctave;samewithF2–F3,D6–D7,etc.ThedistancebetweenC1and

C3wouldbe2octaves,G4andG73octaves,etc.Throughout history there have been many attempts to standardize the

musicalpitch.ThemostcommonmodernmusicstandardtodaysetstheAabovemiddleC at exactly 440Hz.This is called “pitch standard”, or “internationalstandardpitch”,or“concertpitch”.ThisA4servesas the referencenote,withothernotesbeingsetrelativetoit.

2.2.TheRoleofClefsandtheMostCommonTypes

The use of clefs is closely related to this. What a clef does is name aparticularnoteonthestaff—aG,anF,oraC—andbyvirtueofitsplacementonthestaffverticallyitplacesthatnote(andsoalloftheothernotesaswell)ataparticular place on the staff lines. There are 3main types of clefswith theirdistinctshapesusedinmodernmusicnotation:1.G-clef2.C-clef3.F-clef

Figure2.2.1.Threemainclefshapes

Thesearethemainshapesofclefs,buttheycanbeappliedindifferentways–which is doneby slightly changing their positionon the staff.These3 clefsthereforehavedifferentsub-types,positioneddifferentlyonthestaff.

Themostcommonclefsyoucanfindarethetrebleclefandthebassclef.

TrebleclefisthetypeofGclefs(likeasub-type),whilebassclefisthetypeofFclefs.Thesetwoclefstakentogether(ontwostaves)makeupwhatisknownasthegrand stave, which is used for piano and harpmusic (and sometimes for

guitarmusicintheclassicaltradition).Beyondthetrebleandbassclefs,whicharethemostcommonformsofthe

G-clefandF-clefrespectively,therearethealtoandtenorclefs,whichareeachformsoftheC-clef.

Figure2.2.2.NoticethedifferentplacementoftheAltoandTenorclefs

Though the fourmost common clefs are treble, bass, alto, and tenor, it is

possibletoplacetheG-clef,theF-clef,ortheC-clefinotherplacesonthestaffto denote different clefs (such as, for instance, the French clef, which was avariation on the treble clef thatwas designed in the 17thCentury for usewithviolins).

Figure2.2.3.NoticethedifferenceinplacementbetweenFrenchViolinClefandTrebleclef

To summarize so far:Clefs determine the note value of each line of thestaffonwhichtheyareplaced(you’llunderstandsoonhow).Thereismorethanoneclef,andmorethanonewaytoplaceeachclef.Theshapeandtheplacement

ofaclef,alongwiththetypeofclefthatitis,orientsthestafflinesandtellstheperformerwhichnotesgowhere.Althoughthenotesofthestaffalwaysoccurinorder(ascendingsequentiallyupthelinesandspaces),theybeginwithdifferentnotesandindifferentoctavesatdifferentpointsonthatstaff,asdeterminedbytheclef.

Unlessalteredbythekeysignaturethenotesthatanyclefdeterminesonthestaffwill always be the natural notes (C,D,E, F,G,A,B; the noteswithoutsharps or flats), in the key of C Major/A minor (the only keys withoutsharps/flats–oraccidentalsastheyarecalled).Inotherwords,clefsthemselvesdon’tchangethekey–keysignaturedoesthat–clefssimplyset therangeforthestaffintermsoffrequencies.

2.3.TheTrebleClef

The treble clef is themost common clef, and it is – aswe have said – aversion of the G-clef. The G clef is drawn so that the curl of the clef wrapsaround theG4 note. The ‘4’ next toG tells us the register range of that note,whichallowsustofindthisexactnote(withthesamepitch)inthecorrectoctaveonour instrument. In the case of the treble clef,G4 occurs on the second linefromthebottom.

Figure2.3.TrebleclefwrapsaroundtheG4noteonthe2ndlinefrombottomtotop.AnynotesonthislinewillbeG.FrenchclefontheotherhandwrapsaroundtheG4onthe1stlinefromthebottom.

Thenotesofthetreblecleflines,frombottomtotop,are:E4,G4,B4,D5,andF5

Andthenotesofthespacesbetweenthoselines,frombottomtotop,are:F4,A4,C5,E5

2.4.TheBassClef

The secondmost common clef is the bass clef. It is an F-clef, since it isdrawnso that the twodotsareoneithersideof theF3note. In thecaseof thebassclef,thismeansthattheFoccursonthesecondlinefromthetop.

Figure2.4.NoticehowtwodotsstandonbothsidesoftheF3note.

Thenotesofthebasscleflinesare,frombottomtotop:G2,B2,D3,F3,A3

Thenotesofthespacesbetweenthoselines,frombottomtotop,are:A2,C3,E3,G3

Soforthebassclefwehave(bottomtotop):G2,A2,B2,C3,D3,E3,F3,G3,A3

2.5.RememberingtheNotes

It’s important to remember the sets of notes for both treble and bass clefsincetheyarethemostusedclefsthatcancovermanyinstruments.

The notes that spaces represent in the case of the treble clef are easy toremember because they spell the word: FACE. For lines you can usemnemonics, for example:

Figure2.5.1.Inthecaseofthebassclefthenotesthatareonthespacesspell:ACEG(AllCowsEatGrass).Youcanusesomethinglikethis:

Figure2.5.2.GreatBoysDon’tFollowAnyoneforlines,andAllCowsEatGrassforspacesYoucanalsotrytocreateyourownmnemonics.Inanycaseitisimportanttomemorizethesenotes.

2.6.TheGrandStave

Aswehavesaidbefore, trebleandbassclef togetherformthegrandstave(alsoknownasthegrandstaff),whichcanbecommonlyfoundonmusicsheets.Thegoalofagrandstaveuseistominimizetheuseofledgerlinesandmakethewrittenmusicmoreeasilyreadable.

The grand stave covers a wide range of note pitches and it is useful forinstruments such as pianos. Instead of 5 we now have 10 staff lines plus theinvisible line (normallynot shown).The invisible line represents themiddleCnote (C4) and it connects bass and treble clefs. To demonstrate this visuallycheckoutthefigurebelow.

Figure2.6.NotethatonthespacesaroundmiddleCtherearetwomorenotesconnectingthebassandtrebleclefs:B3andD4.Whenplayingpianothebottomstaffisusuallyplayedwiththelefthandandtop

staffisusuallyplayedwiththerighthand.

Themodernstaffhasonlyfive linesandevenwith theuseof ledger linesthenumberofpitchesthatcanberepresentedonthestaffisnotnearlyenoughtocover all instrumentsorwhat anentireorchestra canproduce.Likewise, ifweuseonlyclefitwouldbedifficulttowritemusicforallinstrumentsandvoices.That’swhy theuseof3differentclefs (alongwith theirsub-types) forvariousinstrumentsandvoicesallowseverythingtobecomfortablyonthestaffwiththe

minimumuseofledgerlines.

2.7.OctaveTransposition

Inordertoexplainthisconcepthere’sanexample.Guitarinstandardtuninghasthefollowingopenstringnotes(fromthickesttothinnest):E2,A2,D3,G3,B3,E4.Bass guitar in standard tuning has the same first four notes only one octavelower:E1,A1,D2,G2.

Onmasterpianoonecangoeven lower.Theclefs that areused tonotatethese instrumentsareusually trebleandbassclefs,but inorder forus to reachandnotatetheseloweroctaverangeswecanuseeither:1.Morethanfiveledgerlines toextend thestaffuntilwereach thedesiredpitches(this isnotcommonpracticeandit’sgenerallyavoided).2.Amodifiedtrebleorbassclefwithwrittennumeral‘8’beloworaboveit.

Thisnumeral8(sometimescalled“octavemarker”)whenwrittenbelowtheclef indicates that the pitches on the staff should sound an octave below theirdefault value; and when it’s written right above the clef it indicates that thepitchesonthestaffshouldsoundanoctaveabovetheiroriginalpitchvalue.

Figure2.7.TrebleandbassclefswithoctavemarkersF-clefcanalsobenotatedwithanoctavemakerbeloworabovetheclef,butbothoftheseareextremelyrare.

Usuallyvocalandinstrumentperformerswhoserangesliebelowthebassclefsimplymemorizethenumberofledgerlinesforeachnotethroughcommonuse.Ifontheotherspectrumanoteissignificantlyhigherthantherangeofabass

clef,thecomposerwillsimplywriteitintrebleclef.

Itshouldbesaidthatperformerswillnormallyknowtherightoctaverangeto use even without the octave markers. However, lately as musical notationsoftwarestartedtobecomepopulartheuseofoctave-markedclefshasincreased.This is because in any score-writing software the proper use of clef octavemarkerensuresthatthemusicfiles(mostcommonlyMIDIfiles)producetonesintheircorrectoctaves.

2.8.OtherClefs

Inadditiontothetrebleandbassclefs,itispossibletoorienttheG-andF-clefs in different ways to name different notes on the staff. This occurs, forinstance,inthecontrabassclef,avariationontheF-clef,andintheFrenchclef,avariationontheG-clef.ThereisalsotheC-clefanditsvariations,whichissonamedbecauseitiscenteredontheC4note(middleC).Thisisusedtocreatethealtoandtenorclefs,amongothers.

Generally speaking, G-clefs are used for higher parts, C-clefs for middlepartsandtheF-clefsforlowparts.

2.8.1.PercussionClef

Percussion clef is different from other clefs. The lines do not representnotes, but timbres. In other words, a particular line stands for the snare, andanotheronestandsforthehighhat,etc.Sometimesonlyonestafflineisusedtowriterhythmicvaluesofthenotes;itisnotnecessarytouseallfivelinesofthestaff.The“notes”writtenonthestaffarecompletelyrhythmic,nothavinganyharmonicormelodicvalue -- theyare just there to show time (whenyouclapyourhandsorhitwhatdrum/percussioninstrument).

Figure2.8.1.Percussionclefsymbols

2.8.2.Tablature

This is not a clef but a verymuch simplified alternative to the traditionalnotationsystem,usedforallstringed(andfretted)instruments,mostcommonly

guitars. It is usedas a reference and towritedownquickly andeasilywhat isbeingplayed.

InTablature(Tabforshort)thenumberofthe“staff”linessimplyreferstothe number of strings on a stringed instrument. If an instrument has 6 strings,therewill be 6 lines on the staff, if there are 4 strings, tabwill have 4 lines.Notesthatshouldbeplayedarerepresentedbynumberswrittenonthetabandthosenumberscorrespondtoaparticularfretontheinstrument.Sometimesother‘techniquesymbols’arewrittenaswell,suchashammerons(H),pulloffs(P),upslides(/),downslides(\),etc.

Figure2.8.2.Tabexamplefor6-stringguitarTablatureisone-dimensionalinasensethatitdoesn’tgivemuchinformationastohowapieceshouldbeperformed,anditcannotreplacethetraditionalnotationsystem.Butnonethelessitisauseful

memorizationtoolforrememberingwhatnotestoplaywhere.Tablatureworksgreatwhenusedinconjunctionwiththepercussionclefintheformofagrandstave.Eachnumber/notethatiswrittenonaTabnowhasitsrhythmvalue

added,whichaddsanotherdimensiontoit.

Figure2.8.3.Commonwaytowritedowntranscribedmusiconguitar

3.TIMEFORSIGNATURESTimeandkeysignaturesaresomeof themost important thingsonastaff.

Theyoccur to the immediate rightof theclef, and they tell the instrumentalistmuch of the information they will need to know before beginning to play orlearn the piece they are reading. Once mastered, reading a signature is likenoticingthecolorofthepaperthatapoemisprintedon—itaffectsyouwithoutyouevenknowing it.Theaimisnot topauseover thesignaturesandconsiderthem,buttoseethemandimmediatelyknowtheinformationtheyarepresentingyouwith(informationthatyouwillneedasyoubeginreadingthenoteswrittenon thestaff). Ingeneral, thekeysignature tellsyouabout thekeyof thesong,whichidentifiesthewayinwhichthesevennotesrepresentedbythestafflinesand spaces are altered in each octave, while the time signature tells you howmanyofwhatkindofnotecanfitintoeachbar(thustellingyouhowto“count”or“tap”thepulseofthemusic).

3.1.TimeSignatures

Time signatures are expressed as simple ratios—4/4 being the mostcommonone.The topnumberalways tellsyouhowmanynotes fit intoabar,while thebottomnumberalways tellsyouwhichkindofnotesyouare talkingabout(whichkindofnotesarecountedorpulsedaccordingtothetopnumber).Thebottomnumberthenhastorepresentsomemusicalnote.

Therewillbemoreonnotedurationslater,butfornowwecansaythatthey

occur in divisions of two:whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes,sixteenth notes, and so on. The bottom number in the time signature’s ratiorepresentsoneofthesenotes—itcanbea2(halfnote),a4(quarternote),an8(eighth note), and so on. It is not possible for the bottom number to be anynumbersotherthanonesthatrepresentactualnotedurations(youwon’tseea7inthatpositioninthetimesignature).

Thetopnumberinthetimesignature’sratioinstructsusastohowmanyof

the notes identified by the bottom number will fit into a bar. 3/4 time, forinstance, tellsusthat therearethreequarternotesineachbar.Thatmeansthatthe pulse of the song is in quarter notes (rather than, for instance, in eighthnotes),anditmeansthatthereare3suchpulsesineachbar—1,2,3…1,2,3…(3/4 is a commonwaltz time). The top number can in theory be any number,sinceallitisdoingistellingyouhowmanynotestofitintoabar.

Takentogetherwiththetempoofasong,thetimesignaturetellsyouexactly

howlongabaris.Ifthetempois120,thenthatmeansthatthereare120quarternotesineachminute,whichmeansaquarternotetakeshalfofasecond.Ifthetimesignaturethenis6/8,thatmeanstherearesixeighthnotesineachbar,andsinceaneighthnoteishalfaslongasaquarternote(andthusat120bpmittakesaquarterofasecond),abarwillconsistofsixquarter-secondpulses,oroneandahalfseconds.

3.2.KeySignatures

Thekeysignatureiswrittentotherightoftheclefandtotheleftofthetimesignature.Itisoneofthemostimportantcomponentsofastaff,anditisthefirstthingthatmanypracticedsightreaderslookat.Thejobofthekeysignatureistotelltheperformerwhatkeythesongiswrittenin.Whatthatmeans,however,isthatitsjobistomodifythelinesofthestaff(andthespacesinbetween)sothatthesevennotesindicatedonthestaffmatchthesevennotesofwhateverkeythesongisin.

For instance: The notes of the staff in treble clef, unmodified, are (from

bottomtotop)E,F,G,A,B,C,D,E,F.ThesearethenotesoftheCmajor(orAminor)scale.Butifthesongiswritteninadifferentkey,forinstanceFmajor,thenthecomposerwillwantthelinesofthestafftoread:E,F,G,A,Bb,C,D,E,F.TomodifytheBtoBbineveryoctaveonthestaff, thecomposersimplywrites the ‘b’ symbol at the appropriate place on the staff after the clef andbefore the timesignature.This indicates thekeysignaturewhich instantly tellsuswhatkeythesongis.

Keysignaturesdonot alter theaccidentalswrittenon the staff themselves

(therewillbemoreonaccidentalslater,butingeneralthesearethenotesonthestaff with sharps and flats written next to them). It does not restrain thecomposition and prevent the composer from writing, for instance, a Gb in Fmajor.Whatitdoesisalterthestafflinesthemselves,sothatifanoteiswrittenontheBlineinFmajoritwillautomaticallybeaBb.Theuseofkeysignatureshelpstode-clutterthewrittenmusicfromtheoveruseofsharpsandflats.

Thismakes itmucheasier tonotateapiece inakeyother thanC(even if

that piece bends the rules of the key frequently), and it makes it possible toquicklyreadthelinesofmusicfortheperformer(sincetheylessfrequentlyhavetothinkaboutsharpingorflatteningnotes,andsinceitgivesthemaseven-notereference,ascaleinwhichtoplacethenotesthatarewritten,ratherthanhavingto sort through all 12 tones of the chromatic scale to find each note). Theperformergets touseascaleasaguidewhenreadingthesheet,modifyingthe

scaleon the flyonlywhenanaccidental ispresent.This isoneof the reasonswhyMajorscale(namelyCmajorscale/key)isconsideredtobethefoundationforeverythingelse.

Akeysignatureconsistsofnothingmorethansharpsorflats(notboth,and

usuallyonlyasmanyassevenofthem)writteninaparticularorder,onthestaffatthebeginningofeachline(aftertheclef).Therearesomeruleshoweverthatshouldbefollowedwhiledoingthiswhichwe’llexaminesoon.

Recognizing the key is an easy matter—one does not have to sort out

exactly which notes are being altered, they only have to count how manyalterations there are—there is exactly one key for each number of sharps, andonekeyforeachnumberofflats(usuallyuptoseven).Thenumberofsharpsorflats in a given key, as well as the order in which they are notated at thebeginningofeachline,isdeterminedbythecircleoffifths.

3.3.TheCircleofFifths

Thecircleoffifthsisasimpletoolwithawiderangeofimportantuses.Atitsmostbasic,itconsistsofacirclewitheachnotewritten(beginningatC)sothatasthecircleisfollowedclockwisethenotesascendbyanintervalofPerfectFiftheachtime.Thatmeansthatthenotes,clockwise,ofthecircleoffifthsare:C,G,D,A,E,B,F#/Gb,C#/Db,G#/Ab,D#/Eb,A#/Bb,F,C.

Beforegoingonit’simportanttomakesomethingclearrightaway—thereisa rule inmusic theorywhich says that there can’tbe two sideby sidenoteswith the same alphabet. The consequence of this is that when applying theMajorscale formula toakey (tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone)andwritingoutthescalenoteswewillgetsomekeyswithsharpsandsomewithflats.Forexample,Fmajorscalecontainsthenotes:F-T-G-T-A-S-A#-T-C-T-D-T-E-S-F.

Nowthiswasintentionallywrittenwrong.YouseethatAandA#?Becauseof therulementionedabovewewouldhavetowriteBb, insteadofA#(whicharethesametone,justwrittendifferently).

SotheFkeynotesactuallylooklikethis:F-T-G-T-A-S-Bb-T-C-T-D-T-E-S-F.BecauseofthisFisaflatkey;inthesamewaysomekeysareeithersharporflat(exceptforthekeyofCwhichdoesn’thaveany).

In any case,moving through the notes by an interval of 5th allows us toorganize information about each key: 1) First, each note is understood torepresentamajorkeystartingwithC,andarelativeminorkeyisplacedbyeachmajor key: A minor, E minor, B minor, F#/Gb minor, C#/Db minor, G#/Abminor, D#/Eb minor, A#/Bb minor, Fm, Cm, Gm, Dm, Am (in that order,beginningwithAmbeingmatchedtoCandfollowingfromthere).

2)Second,eachkeyiswrittenintermsofhowmanysharpsorflatsithas:Chas0sharps,Ghas1sharp,Dhas2sharps,Ahas3sharps,Ehas4sharps,Bhas5sharps, F#/Gbhas 6 sharps or 6 flats (it can bewritten eitherway),Dbhas 5flats,Abhas4flats,Ebhas3flats,Bbhas2flats,Fhas1flat.Inthisway,itiseasytoseethearrangementofsharpsandflatsforeachkey.

Figure3.2.1.TheCircleoffifthsshownlaysouteachkeywithitskeysignaturewrittennexttoit.Notethatwheneveryou’removingclockwiseonthecircle(increasinginpitch)sharpsareused,andwheneveryou’re

movingcounter-clockwiseonthecircle(decreasinginpitch)flatsareused.

As the number of sharps or flats increases, the keywithmore alterations

containsallof thesamealterationsas the lastone,onlyonenewoneisadded.Theorderinwhichthealterationstoastaffinakeysignaturearewrittenisalsodetermined by the circle of fifths—G has 1 sharp: F#, and so the F line issharpedinthekeysignature;followingthat,DiswrittenfirstwiththeFsharpedandthenwiththeCsharped;followingthat,AiswrittenfirstbysharpingtheF,thenbysharpingtheC,andfinallybysharpingtheG;andsoon.Thesamelogicappliestotheflatkeysandtotheminorkeysaswell.

3.4.RulesandGuidelinestoKeepinMind1)Keysignatureswith#’salwaysstartwithF#(#iswrittenonthetopFlineonthe staff in treble clef).This is becausewhenwriting inkey signatureson thestaffwe always follow the circle of fifths.Aswe go through the keys on thecircle,onenewsharpisaddedwitheachnewkeywhiletheoldonesremainatthesameposition.2)Inthesamewaykeysignatureswithb’salwaysstartwithBb.3) Key signatures—no matter the clef— never use ledger lines. This is thereasonwhyfirstF#mustbewrittenat the top lineof thestaveandnoton thebottom(theonlyexceptionisonthetenorclefwhenusingsharps,whereF#isplacedatthebottomofthestaveinordertoavoidtheuseofaledgerlineforthesecondC#note–seeFigure3.2.4.1.).4)Keysignaturesareneverplacedonebeneaththeotherbutoneaftertheother.Theexactplacementofthekeyssharpsandflatsisdepictedinthecircleoffifthsimage.5)ThesamekeysignaturesareusedforMajorandminorkeys.Forexample,GhasthesamekeysignatureasEminor,keysignatureofEbisthesameasCm,etc.6)ThenotesthatthesharpsappearinorderstartingfromthekeyofGare:

FCGDAEB

KeyofChas0sharpsorflats.KeyofGhasonesharp–F#KeyofDhastwosharps–F#C#

KeyofAhasthreesharps–F#C#G#KeyofEhasfoursharps–F#C#G#D#KeyofBhasfivesharps–F#C#G#D#A#KeyofF#hassixsharps–F#C#G#D#A#E#KeyofC#hassevensharps–F#C#G#D#A#E#B#(MinorkeysareexactlythesameastheirrelativeMajors)

Notethatit ispossibletogofurther,all thewayaroundthecircle,andgetmore keys with more sharps. These keys however require the use of doublesharpsand that’swhy theyarepurely theoreticalandnotused inpractice.Thesameappliesforflatswhenmovingcounter-clockwise.

Forflatkeys,movingcounter-clockwise,theorderofthenotesthattheflatsappearonisthesameaswithsharps,butinreverse:

BEADGCF

KeyofFhasoneflat–BbKeyofBbhastwoflats–BbEbKeyofEbhasthreeflats–BbEbAb…

Yougettheidea.Itwouldbeverybeneficialtorememberthissequenceofnotes–andthebestwaytodothatis,you’veguessedit,withmnemonics.Forexample:

FourCrazyGoosesDodgedAllElephantsBravely

Youcancreateyourownifyouwish,andifyoudomakesuretomakeitfunny.

3.5.HowtoReadKeySignaturesQuicklyThere is a trick to learning which key signature indicates which key: 1) Forsharpedkeysignatures, the last sharpednote,once sharped, isahalf-step (onesemitone)belowthekeycenter.Sowhenlookingatakeysignaturewithsharpsand trying to determinewhat key it is, it isworth remembering this:The last#’ednote+S=Key

For example, the last sharped note ofA key isG, and soG# is one half-steplowerthanthekeycenter,A).2)For flattenedkeys, the second to last flattednote,once flattened, is thekeycenter.

The2ndtolastb’ednote=Key

Forexample,thesecondtolastflattenednoteofEbkeyisEb(onceweflattendefaultE)—thelastbeingAb—andsothekeycenterisEb.3)ThatleavesonlyCmajor(Aminor)andFmajor(Dminor)tobememorized,which is easy—C has no sharps or flats, and F has one flat (samewith theirminorrelatives).

3.6. Key Signatures in Four Most Common Clefs(Reference)Here’sareferenceforallsharpsandflatslocationsintreble,bass,altoandtenorclefs:

Figure3.2.4.1.All‘sharp’locations

Figure3.2.4.2.All‘flat’locations

4.SOLFEGE

Thenotesofthestaff,inanykey,arebynaturediatonic.Theyarethenotesof somemajor scale (or of some relativeminor scale). Even though the keyschange,therelationshipsbetweenthenotesinthosekeysdonotchange.Forthesake of convenience, musicians and composers have developed a way torepresent those relationships quickly and easily. The solfege system is thatrepresentationalmethod.Itisalinguisticmodelofthediatonicmajorscale,witheachvowelrepresentingonedistinctnoteinthescale.Thisisanoldsystem,anditisfamiliartomostofusfromgradeschool—thevowelsofthesolfegesystem(Do,Re,Mi,Fa,Sol,La,Ti,Do)areeasilyandimmediatelyrecognizable,andmost all of us have an intuitive understanding of the harmonic relationshipsbetween those vowels. This linguistic system is used to teach singing andsightreadingbyhelpingpeoplerelatethesoundsofthemajorscaletothepitchesastheyarerepresentedonthepageinsomediatonickey.

4.1.Fixed“Do”

In traditionalharmony (inwhat is commonlyknownas “classical”music)solfegeworksinaparticularway.“Do”isaffixedtoC,sothatthesolfegescaleisalwaystheCmajorscale.Inthisway,singersandsightreadersmemorizetheunalteredlinesofthestaff(themajorscaleinC)sothattheycanthenalterthosenotes to achieve anyother scale.Thenotes of solfege are static, and so sight-singersareencouragedtodevelopsomethingakintoperfectpitch—recognizingthat“Do”isalwaysC,“Re”isalwaysD,“Mi”isalwaysD,andsoon.

4.2.Moveable“Do”

Traditional solfege has its advantages, butmusicians in the contemporarynon-classical tradition quickly recognized its shortcomings. While traditionalsolfegemakesconceptualizingthenotesoftheunalteredstaff(inCmajor)easy,andthereforeencouragesquicksightreadingandsight-singinginC(orarelativekey), it makes it difficult to “hear” other scales (even other major scales) aseasily.

Forthatreason,thejazztraditionmostoftenusesasolfegesysteminwhich“Do”ismoveable—whatevertherootnoteofthescaleyouareusing(orthefirstnoteoftheclosestrelativemajorscale),thatis“Do.”Inthisway,thinkingofandhearing (and so singing) any scale in any key is a relatively easymatter, andsightreadingorsight-singinginanykeybecomeseasy—allyouneedtosinganymajorscale,forinstance,regardlessofhowcomplicatedthekeysignature,istobeprovidedwithareference“Do.”Thisencouragesnotperfectpitchbutrelativepitch,whichisinsomecasesmoreimportantandmoreuseful–sinceeverythinginmusicis,essentially,relative.

5.HOWTOREADNOTES

Knowingthepartsofthestaff—knowingwhatitisyou’relookingatwhenyou’relookingatasheetofmusic—isonlypartof thebattle.Learningtoreadandwritemusic, even if yourgoal isnot absolute fluency, requiresmore thanlearningthepartsinabstraction.Partsofspeechneveradduptoalanguage,andwrittenmusicisalanguage;youcanknowallofthebasicunits,howtheyworktogether,andwhateverythingissupposedtobetellingyou,butuntilyouknowhow to make a message out of that collection, until you know how to makecontinuoussenseoutofdiscreteparts,youwillnothavelearnedthelanguage.

Musicismorethanrule-governedsounds,andsotooiswrittenmusicmorethansyntacticunits.Tounderstandthelanguageyouhavetohaveanearforthetongueinwhichitisspoken.Inpart,thatmeansyouhavetobeamusician—thebetteryouareasamusician,thebetteryourearis,themoreintuneyouarewiththe structures of musical composition, the more thorough your understandingwillbeandsotheeasieritwillbetotranslateawrittenpageintosomethingthatsoundslikethemusicyouareusedtohearingandmaking.Havinganearforthetongue also means learning to immerse yourself in the written language ofmusic, to express it as a sound or an ideawithout having to translate it. Youdon’t translate your mother tongue, and neither should you need to translatewrittenmusic.

Paradoxically,theprocessoflearninghownottotranslate(bydoinglotsoftranslating)islong,andforsomeofusitisnever-ending(particularlyifwearecomingtowrittenmusiclateinlife)butitispossibletobeguidedandtoguideyourself towardamoreefficientwayof reading themusic thatyouseeon thepage—thereare tricksof themind,goodhabits, thatwillhelpyou toget fromthose foreign-looking notes to your hands or vocal chords (or the other wayaround).Youmay even begin thinkingwith thewriting itself, in terms of thepage andnot alwaysof the instrument (directly from the sound to the staff or

viceversa).That,atleast,isthegoal.

5.1.NoteValues

Themostimportantthingaboutasheetofmusicarethenoteswrittenonthestaff.Thesignatures,tempo,clef,andothermarkingswilltellyouallthethingsyou need to know before wading into the pool, but swimming is a matter ofreadingthespecificnotes—thesingle-notelinesandthechords,thesoundsandthe rests. This iswhere the compositionalmagic happens, and it iswhere theperformergetsalloftheinformationtheywillneedtomakebeautifulmusic(solongastheyarecapable).

Therearetwocomponentstoawrittennote:1.Pitch2.Duration.

Thedurationisamatterofrhythm,andwillbediscussedinthesectionofthisbookpertaining to timing.Rightnow, the focus isonhow to readwhat anote is tellingusabout itspitch.Fundamentally, this isa simplematter.Thereare, again, two features toconsider:1.Theplacementof thenoteon the staff,and2.Anyalterationstothenormalcourseofthatplacement.Together,thesetwothingswilltellyouexactlywhatpitchtoplay.

Ingeneral,thepitchofanoteisdeterminedbywhereitisverticallyonthestaff. Aswe have seen, each place on the staff (on each different clef) has adistinctpitch—ifweassumethatwearetalkingaboutthetrebleclefinCmajor,then the lowest line is alwaysE4, themiddle line is alwaysB4, and the spacebelowthetoplineisalwaysF5.

Soanynoteplacedonthosepartsofthestaff(oranyotherparts)willhavethecorrespondingpitchvalues.Anote(that isunaltered)onthebottomlineofthetrebleclefinCwillalwaysbeE,regardlessofhowthatnotelookslikeandwhetherthatisawholenote,aneighthnote,orasixteenthnote.AsimilarnoteonthemiddlelineofthatsamestaffwillalwaysbeaB,andsoon.Inthisway,weknowwhatthepitchvalueofanoteis—whetherthatnoteispartofasingle-

noteline(whenitistheonlynoteoccurringatthatverticalsliceofthestaff)orwhether it ispartofachord(whenit is joinedat thesameverticalsliceof thestafftoothernotes).

5.2.Sharps,FlatsandNaturals(Accidentals)

Figure5.2.Notethesharpednoteinthefirstbarandtheflattenednoteinthefourthbar.Notealsothepresenceofchordsnotatedonthestaffinthefirstbar(thesewillbediscussedinthenextsection).

Verticalplacement is thegeneral rulewhen itcomes topitch—it tellsyouwhat note you are dealing with. But it doesn't always tell you exactly whichpitchtoplay.Sometimesacomposerwantstoalteroneofthetonesofthestaff.There are sevennotes available on the staff, butWestern harmonyhas twelvenotesineachoctave.

Toopenup theother fivenotes,composersalter the first sevenbyraisingthem(sharping them)or lowering them(flattening them)byasemitone.Therearetwowaysofdoingthis.Thefirstwaywehavealreadyseen—byalteringthekey signature, a composer or transcriber alters every incidence of a particularnoteonthestaffineveryoctave.Thisallowsthemtowritemusicinakeythatisn’t C major or one of its relatives. But that isn’t always what a composerwants. Sometimes theywant to be playing in one key and have a section thatusesascalefromanotherkey.Sometimesthekeycenterofthesongtemporarilymoves.Sometimesatranscriberisworkingonajazzsolo,andtheycomeacrossasequencethatisderivedprimarilyfromthechromaticscale.Howcanapersonwritealltwelvetonesifonlysevenareavailable?Changingthekeyonlygivesyouanotherseven.

Theanswerisaccidentals.Accidentalsarenaturals,sharps,andflatswritteninfrontofindividualnotesthemselvesonthestaff.Theyalteronlythosenotes,individually, for the duration of the bar in which they occur, unless they are

cancelled during that bar by another, opposing, accidental. In general, theseaccidentalsare:1.Naturals(whichremoveasharporaflat,eitherfromthekeysignatureorfromanaccidentalearlierinthatbar).

2.Singlesharps(whichraisethepitchahalfstep)3.Singleflats(whichlowerthepitchahalfstep).

Thesethreeaccidentals,togetherwiththe12keysignatures,allowamusicwritertowriteanyoftheavailablepitchesin12-tonemusicinanykey.

It does not, however, fully cover all of the available alterations. Doublesharpsanddoubleflatsexist,whichaltertheirnotesbyafullstep,andwhichareusedtoraiseorloweranotethatisalreadyraisedorloweredinthekeysignatureor by another accidental.This is usefulwhenwriting certain chords or scales,sinceitissometimesnecessarytowriteanotethatfunctionsas,forinstance,theDofascalebut isenharmonicallyequivalent toCorE.This isanuncommonoccurrence,butitdoeshappen,particularlyinmoderncomposition—bothinjazz

andclassicalmusic.

5.3.ReadingSingleNotes

The hardest thing about reading music, perhaps the hardest thing aboutlearningtothinkaboutmusicingeneral,istodevelopfluency.Itiseasyenoughtomemorize thestructures:Whenwe talkaboutharmony, for instance,wearereallyonlytalkingaboutahandfulofdifferentchordsandscalesthatfittogetherinahandfulofpredictableways.Whenwe talkabout sightreadingornotatingmusical concepts,weare similarlyonly talkingabout a smallnumberofbasicforms—fundamentalunits,buildingblocks,thediscreteobjectsthatmakeupthescore (signatures, clefs,notes, accidentals, anda fewothermarkers thatnotatedynamicsandinflections).

Butmusicisnotmadeofdiscreteobjects.Musiciscontinuous.Itistheart

of time—of movement and sequence rather than of simultaneity, of purecontinuityratherthandiscreteness.Thatmakesithardtogofromtherelativelysmallnumberofobjectsthatcanbequicklymemorizedtotheinfinitelyvariablecontinuityoffluidsounds(andtheirrepresentationsonthepageofascore).Thehardthingistobeabletothinkandtoreadnotasthoughyouweredealingwithunitsbutasthoughyouwereplungingyourmindandyourbodyintoastream.

Thereisn’t,unfortunately,anyshortcuttogainingthatkindoffluency.Not

really.Butthereisabasicprocedurewhenitcomestoreadingnotesonastaff(just as there are procedures for assembling harmonic,melodic, and rhythmicstructuresonyourinstrument).Theideaisthis:1.Youbeginbyidentifyingthekeyofthesong(bylookingatthekeysignature)andthathelpsyoutoidentifythescaleinwhichthesongisbeingplayed.Youknow, just from that, that anynoteson the staff that aren’t accidentalswillbeoneofthesevennotesinthescaleyouhaveidentified.2.Itisthenamatteroforientingyourinstrumenttothestaff.Youfindtherootofthescaleonyourinstrumentandfindthatsamenoteonthestaff,andthenas

youreadthenotesonthestaffyoumoveupordownthescaleasneeded.

Thatlimitswhatyouhavetothinkabouttoonepattern—thescalethatthesongiswrittenin—inonlyafew(orperhapsone)positionsonyourinstrument.Itiseasyenoughtoseethatifthenoteonthepageistwoscaledegreeshigherthanthelastone,thenyouhavetoplaythenoteonyourinstrumentthatistwoscaledegreeshigherthantheoneyoujustplayed.

In time, you will begin to be able to recognize whole sequences at once

(rather than seeing each note separately). The other five notes, the ones notcontainedinthatscale,willbeindicatedbyaccidentals,andtheycanbeseenasmodificationsupordowninpitch(byoneortwohalfsteps)ofoneofthenotesinthescaleyouarealreadyplaying.Inthisway,mostmelodieswritteninmostsongscanbeplayedeasily.

Inthecaseofthosesongswithmorecomplexharmonywherethekeycenter

changeswithoutanewkeybeingnotated,therewillbeascaleusedtocomposethenotesonthestaffthatdoesn’tmatchupwiththescaleyouhaveidentifiedonyourinstrument.Youcaneitherrecognizethatnewscale(whichisoneofthosethings that takes time to learn to do) and adjust your playingmomentarily, oryoucanseeeachnoteof thenewscale (someofwhichwillbeaccidentals)asalterationsofthescalethatyouhavealreadyidentified.Thissecondapproachissuitedtosomejazzsongsinwhichtherearemultiplebutbriefnewkeycentersthataredifferentfromthekeyofthesong.

5.4.ReadingChords

Reading chords on the staff can seem difficult, but the process is nearlyidenticaltoreadingsinglenotelines.Eachnoteofthechordisrepresentedbyasinglenotetiedtogetherwiththeothernotesofthechordvertically.Toplaythechord,yousimplyhavetoplayallofthenotesthataretiedtogetheratthesametime.Itcanseemhard,becauseyouneedtoreadmultiplenotesatthesametime,butinpracticeitisoftenmucheasierthanitseems.

Thebasic approach thatmost players use is tomemorize, beforehand, thebasic patterns of rudimentary chords – triads, sevenths, extended chords,inversions,etc.–andthenlookforthosepatternswhentheyseeachordnotatedonthestaff.Itiseasytorecognize,forinstance,atriad,becauseitisthreenotestiedtogether(vertically),eachofthenotesskippingaspaceonthestaff.Inotherwords,ifthetriadbeginsonaline,thenthenextnoteinthechord(the3rd)willbeonthenextlineupandthenextnote(the5th)willbeonthenextlineup.Ifitbeginsonaspacebetweenthestafflines,thentheothernoteswillascendupordescenddownthespacesinthesameway.

5.4.1.ChordSymbolsChordsymbolsareawayofnotatingchordsthat:(i)Donotrequirethechordtobe notated on the staff itself, and (ii) Allow the player to voice that chordhowever theywould like.Thesesymbols,or“changes,”areoftenused in jazz,and theyarewrittenabove the staff, corresponding to thebarsornotesduringwhichtheyareplayed.Thereareafewvarietiesofwaystonotatebasicchordsthisway,buthereisperhapsthemostcommon:CMajor:CMajCMinor:CmCDiminished:CdimCAugmented:C+CDominantSeventh:C7CMajorSeventh:CMaj7CMinorSeventh:Cm7CHalfDiminished:Cm7b5CDiminishedSeventh:Cdim7

CSixth:C6CNinth:C9CEleventh:C11CThirteenth:C13CAltlered:Calt

From there, it ispossible tocombinesomesymbolsor toalterachordbyadding a “#” or “b” followed by the scale degree being altered (like this:CMaj13#5b9).

5.5.WhatisaLeadSheet?

When jazzcomposerswrite their songs, the intention isnot to instruct theperformertoplayinanexactway.Thereisthehead,whichconsistsofa(usuallysimple)melodyandasetofchords(the“changes”)andthenthatheadformsthebasis of the improvisations that take place during the song. To this end, jazzcomposers,aswellasmanycountryandrockmusicians,writeleadsheets.Theseconsistofamelody,ofteninasinglevoice,andasetofchangeswrittenabovethat melody to indicate the way the harmony of the song progresses. Theperformer is often expected to play a lead sheet, and improvise based on thechangeswrittenontheleadsheet,withouteverhaveheardthesong,playedthesong,orevenseenthesheetbefore.

6.HOWTOREADRHYTHM

Readingthenotesonastaffismorethanmerelyreadingtheirpitches.Oneofthehardestthingsformanypeoplewhoarelearningtoreadmusicistomakesenseoftherhythmicvariationonthepage.Musicisatemporalart,andassuchthere is a huge variety of rhythmic patterns that musicians employ. Commonnotationhas awayofnotating all of them,orvirtually all of them, and it canseem confusing at first.Once you get a handle on theway rhythm is notated,however, and once you build it into your practice of reading the page, itwillbegintoflownaturally.

6.1.RhythmicValues

Ifasoundisreducedtoonlytworelevantproperties,thentheyarepitchandtime.Thepitchofanote,representedbyitsplacementupanddownthestaff,hasalreadybeendiscussed.Thetimeofanoteisitslength,anditisjustasimportantas itsfrequency.Manymusiciansknowthatyoucanplayvirtuallyanythingaslongasit’sgotgoodtime.

6.2.NoteDurations

Figure6.2.Notethewholenotesinthefirsttwobars,thehalfnotesinthethirdbar,thequarternotesinthefourthbar,theeighthnotesinthefifthbar,andthesixteenthnotesinthesixthbar.Alsonotethepresenceofthedottedquarternoteatthebeginningoftheseventhbar,aswellasthetwo

setsoftripletsinthelastbar.

Notedurationsarerepresentedbytheshapeofthewrittennote.Theyoccurinsimpledivisionsandarethenalteredasneeded.Hereisthewaynotedurationiscalculatedandrepresented:DoublewholenoteAdoublewholenote (Americanname)orbreve (Britishname)occupies eightbeats,ortwofullbarsin4/4time.

Notethatthereareevenlongernotesthanthis,suchaslonga(fourbars)and

maxima(eightbars)notes.Thesearelesscommonbuttheydoexist,aswellastheirrestequivalents.WholeNotes

Awholenote(Americanname)orsemibreve(Britishname)occupiesfourbeats,orawholemeasurein4/4time.

HalfNotesAhalfnote(American)orminim(British)occupieshalfofthetimeofawholenote,ortwobeats(ahalf-measurein4/4time).

QuarterNotes

Aquarternote(American)orcrochet(British)occupieshalfofthetimeofahalfnote,oronebeat.

EighthNotes

An eighth note (American) or quaver (British) occupies half of the time of aquarternote,orone-halfbeat(one-eighthofa4/4bar).

Eight notes and any shorter notes can have their flags “tied” or beamed

together (asmentionedbefore).Twogroupedeightnotes (equal toonequarter

note)looklikethis:

SixteenthNotes

Asixteenthnote(American)orsemiquaver(British)occupieshalfofthetimeofaneighthnote,orone-quarterbeat(one-sixteenthofa4/4bar).

Whenfour16thnotesaregrouped:

ShorterNotes

Thoughnotusedasfrequently,noteswithshortervaluescanbegeneratedinthesameway–32ndnotes(thirty-secondnoteordemisemiquaver),64thnotes(sixty-fourthnoteorhemidemisemiquaver),128thnotesand256thnotes.Thesenotesaremainlyusedforfastandbriefsectionsinslowmusicalpieces.

(32ndnote)Groupedvariationof32ndnoteswouldlookexactlythesameasthe16thnotesbutwiththethirdhorizontallineaddedontop.

6.2.1.DottedNotes

Dotsareusedtoalterthelengthofanote.Adottednote(anotewithadot

next to it) isequivalent tooneandahalf times the lengthof theoriginalnote.Forinstance,adottedeighthnotetakesupthesametimeasoneeighthnoteandonesixteenthnotecombined.

6.2.2.Tuplets

Tupletsareawayofalteringtheway,temporarily,thataseriesofnotesiscounted.Thesimplesttupletisatriplet, inwhichthreenotesareplayedduringthetimeitwouldnormallytaketoplaytwosuchnotes.

Forinstance,threequarternotetriplets(themostcommontuplets)takeup2beats(whilenormallytwoquarternoteswouldtakeup2beats).

3quarternotetriplets=2quarternotes

3eightnotetriplets=1quarternote

The notes in tuplets are dispersed evenly over the interval in question,effectivelycreatingatemporarypolyrhythm.

It is possible to create tuplets other than triplets, such as pentuplets, butthese are far less common, due in part to their difficulty and in part to theiroddness.6.2.3.Rests

Figure6.2.3.Notethereststhathavebeenaddedtofigure6.2.

Not everythingonapage represents anote thatyouneed toplay. In fact,muchofmusicisthenotesyoudon’tplay.Torepresentthistime,composersuserests.Restsindicatethatyoushouldplaynothingduringacertaintime.Theyareasfollows:WholeNoteRestsWhole note (or semibreve) rests take up the same amount of time as awholenote.

HalfNoteRestsHalfnote(orminim)reststakeupthesameamountoftimeasahalfnote.

QuarterNoteRestsQuarternotereststakeupthesameamountoftimeasaquarternote.

EighthNoteRestsEighthnotereststakeupthesameamountoftimeasaneighthnote.

SixteenthNoteRestsSixteenthnotereststakeupasmuchtimeasasixteenthnote.

ShorterRests

Like notes, rests can be divided further – 32nd note rests, 64th note rests,128thnoterests,256thnoterests.Intermsofappearancetheserestslookexactlylike16thnoterestsbutwithanew“hook”added(tothetwoexistingones)eachtimewitheveryshorterrest.

DottedRestsLikenotes,restscanbedotted,andtheresultisthesame.

6.2.4.TiesandSlurs

These are two elements that are easy to get mixed up because of theirsimilarmusicalsymbols.

Tieisarhythmicelementofthestaffthatextendstimevalueofthenotesofthesamepitch.Onthestaff,itisacurvedlineconnectingtwonoteheads(thelinealwaysconnectsthenoteheadswhichsitonthesamelineorspace)withinabar,oracrossthebarlines.Tieshaveaverysimilarfunctionasdots.Forinstance:

Thechoiceofwhethertouseatieoradotdependsuponthetimesignature

whichdeterminesourbar.

Forexample,ifwehave2/8timesignatureitmeansthatwecanonlyhavetwoeightnotebeats inonebar. In thiscasewecannotusedottedquarternote(whichisequaltothevalueofthreeeightnotes)becauseitwouldbreaktherulesofthebar(onenotethatisheldforthreebeatsiswritteninonebarthatcanhaveamaximumoftwobeats–thisisnotallowed).Whatwecandohoweverisuseatieandconnectthequarternoteinthefirstbarwithaneightnoteinanewbaracrossthebarline.Thisdoesn’tviolatetherulessetbythetimesignatureforthebar.

Ties are also often used within a bar to accommodate for the strict andcomplexrulesofnotebeaming.

Slurson theotherhandareanexpressivearticulationelementof thestaff.Theyindicatethatapassageofmusicshouldbeplayedsmoothlyorlegato(moreissaidintheDynamicsandArticulationsection).Theirsymbollooksthesameasthatof ties; thedifferenceis that theslur’scurvedlinecanconnectanytwonotes positioned anywhere vertically on the staff, within a bar or across evenseveral bars. The line is generally placed below the notes if the stem ispositionedupwardsoroverthenotesifthestemispositioneddownwards.Anynote that is covered by the slur line is meant to be played smoothly,uninterrupted,legatostyle.

Tiesandslurscanbecombined,inwhichcasetheslursarewrittenunderthephrase,beneath(orabove)theties.

6.3.BeatCounting

Beat counting is howmusicians feel the pulse of the music. It is both amatterofcountingtothecorrecttempoandofcountingthenumberofbeatsinabar (whichmeansknowingandunderstanding the timesignatureof thepiece).Onceyoucancountthebeatsofeachmeasure,itismucheasiertoplayandreadintimecorrectly.

6.4. Building Blocks of Rhythm - Make ComplexRhythmsEasytoRead

It is possible to mix different note values and combine several rhythmicelementswe’ve talkedabout (dots, ties, rests,etc.), toproduceawidearrayofrhythmic patterns. It is just a simple matter of arranging the fundamentalrhythmicpiecesintoblocksandmixingthemtogether.

Herearethemostcommonwaysyoucansubdivideabeatandcreatethoserhythmicblocksinthemostcommon4/4time.Youmayrecognizethesefiguresoftenonthestaff.Sincethebeatisusuallyrepresentedbyaquarternote,itwillbeusedtoderiveotherblocks.(I)Basicsubdivisionofthebeatin2’sand4's(showninonebarin4/4time)

1)QuarternotesRead(orcounted)as:one,two,three,four…

Whenpracticing reading these try to tapyour footand/orclapyourhandsalongwiththebeattoreallyfeelthepattern.2) Eight notes (subdividing quarter notes into two)

Readas:oneand,twoand,threeand,fourand…3)Sixteenthnotes (subdividingeightnotes in two,orquarternotes intofour)

Readas:oneeanda,twoeanda,threeeanda,foureanda…4)Mixing8thnotesand16thtofilloutonebeat–3ways:a)8thandtwo16th’s

Readas(parenthesisareskipped):one(e)anda,two(e)anda,three(e)anda,four(e)anda…

b)Two16th’sandan8th

Readas:oneeand(a),twoeand(a),threeeand(a),foureand(a)…

c)16th,8thanda16thReadas:onee(and)a,twoe(and)a,threee(and)a,foure(and)a…5)Mixingdotted8thand16thnotes–2ways:a)Dotted8th(75%ofthebeat)

anda16th(25%ofthebeat)

Readas:one(e)(and)a,two(e)(and)a,three(e)(and)a,four(e)(and)a…

b)16thandadotted8th

Readas:onee(and)(a),twoe(and)(a),threee(and)(a),foure(and)(a)…(II)Subdividingin3’s–Triplets(spacingoutthreeeightnotesevenlyinone

beat,4/4time,onebar)Readas:onetriplet,twotriplet,threetriplet,fourtriplet…Orinanotherway:oneea,twoea,threeea,fourea…

Thesewere thebasic rhythmfigures thatcanbecombined inoneormorebars to create different rhythmic phrases (strumming patterns on guitar forinstance).Sofarwehaven’teventouchedonthesyncopatedrhythms.Withtheuseofsyncopation(skippingormissingthebeatsandplayingin-betweenthem)thesebasicrhythmscanbeexpandedintoastaggeringarrayofnewsyncopatedrhythms.This isdonesimplyby incorporatingdifferent rests into therhythmicfiguresshownsofar.

6.5.Tempo

Understanding the tempoofa song isofparamount importancewhenyouare learning to sightread the song’s time. The first thing to do is to use thenotatedtempotofindthespeedofthesong–ifitiswritteninnumberform(110bpm for instance) then it is simply amatter of calculating that tempo; if it iswritten descriptively (“up-swing”; “largo”) then you need to do someinterpretivework.Ineithercase,thepointistofindthespeedofthesongandgetit intoyourhead.After that, finding thepulse isamatterof letting that tempomoveyou,moveyourbody,moveyourhandsoryourvoice.

6.6.ClappingtheBeat

Ifyoucancountthetimeofasong, thenit isoftentimesgoodtopracticeclapping that beat. This introduces not only your bodily movement into thesong’stime,butalsothepresenceofstrongandweakbeats.Youcanclapharderforstrongbeatsandsofterforweakbeats.Forinstance,ifthesongisin6/8,youmaywanttoclap:strong,weak,weak,strong,weak,weak.Ifyoudothiswhilecountingthebeatsinyourhead(“one,two,three,four,five,six,one,…”)andifyoudo soat the correct tempo, thenyouwillmake itmucheasier to feel andreadthesong’stimecorrectly.

6.7.Polyrhythm

Polyrhythms have already been mentioned in the context of tuplets. Apolyrhythmoccurswhen twoormoredistinct rhythmsarepresentat the sametime–whenonevoiceplaysin4/4whileanotherplaysin6/8forinstance.Oftentimes this is notated by having one voice play a particular tuplet. Playing andhearingpolyrhythmscanbequitedifficult,butitcanbepracticedbylearningtapyourhandstodifferentpolyrhythmicpatterns–threetapswithonehandinthesameamountoftimeasfourtapswiththeotherhand,forinstance(thisiscalled“3on4”).Ifyoubeginslowlyyouwillstarttonoticerhythmicpatternswithinthepolyrhythm,anditwillbeeasiertoperformandeasiertohear.Hereisanexampleofapolyrhythm:

Figure6.7.Polyrhythmexample,bothstaffsareplayedsimultaneously.

Inthispolyrhythmicexampletherearetwodistinctrhythms.Thereareeight

notesin4/4onthetopstaff,andeightnotetripletsonthebottomstaff,12/8time(could also be 4 eight note triplets in 4/4).Combining these two rhythms andplayingthemtogetheratthesametimeproduceswhatisknownaspolyrhythm.Foreveryfourtopnotes,wecancount:1234Andifwemakethemeachthefirstnoteofatripletweget:

1ea2ea3ea4eaSo the top notes are played on 1, 2, 3, and 4 (can be tappedwith your righthand).Thebottomnotesthenfalloneveryotherbeatofthetriplets:1ea2ea3ea4ea(tapwithyourlefthand)Bottomnotesareinbold.Playthesetogetherandyouwillgetapolyrhythm.Thisiscalled“sixonfour”or“sixoverfour”or“sixagainstfour”.

Itisessentiallythesameasmorecommon3(eightnotetriplets)againsttwo(eightnotes),butinthis“sixoverfour”examplethedurationofthebaris twotimeslonger.

Oneway to see it is to just call it a syncopated triplet rhythm.But I amusingittoillustratethewaytwotimesignaturescanworktogether.Polyrhythmsaremoreobviouswhen they are, for instance, 3 on4or 5 on4, but these aremuchhardertothinkaboutandhearsincetheycan'tbesubdividedevenly(theyaretrulytwocompletelydifferentrhythmshappeningatthesametime).

6.8.Polymeter

Apolymeter is similar to a polyrhythm in that it amounts to two distinctrhythmicfiguresoccurringatonetime.Butinthiscase,ratherthantwodifferentrhythms (two different time signatures, if you want to think of it that way)occurringsimultaneouslyandtakingupthesameamountoftime,nowtherearetwometers–twodifferentamountsoftimetakenup–beingplayedatthesametimesothatthepulseofoneisidenticaltothepulseoftheother.

Inotherwords,theremaybeafournoteseries(think:4/4)at120bpmthatrepeatsafterthosefournoteswhileafivenoteseries(think:5/4)alsoat120bpmsounds.Thefivenoteseriesalsorepeatswhenitfinishes,whichmeansthatthefivenoteseriesbeginsagaina fullbeatafter the fournoteseriesbeginsagain.Thesedistinctmeters,whilerhythmicallythesame,willcycleatdifferentrates.Thisissometimesnotnotatedinanyparticularway–thereissimplyoneseriesofnotesthatrepeatsatoddintervalsacrosssomenumberofbars,whiletheotherseriesrepeatsevenly.Here’s an example:

Figure 6.8.Polymeter exampleThe ideahere is that the topnote line repeats every4notes(everybar)whereasthebottomonerepeatseverysixnotes(everyoneandahalfbars).Onewaytothinkaboutthisistoseeitastwodifferentmeters--one4/4andone6/4--happeningatthesametime.

Advanced rhythm concepts such as these will be a subject of a separatebook;fornowitisenoughthatyouareawareofthemandhaveanideaofwhattheyare.

7.DYNAMICSANDARTICULATION

Figure7.Notethemarksabove,below,andwithinthenotes.Theseindicatehowanoteistobeplayed.

Inadditiontopitchandtotime,musicworkstwoimportantways.Thereisnotonlythewayanotefunctionsharmonically(ormelodically)andthewaythatit functions rhythmically, there is also theway thatnote is expressed, thewaythat sound ismade.Thisoccursmostbasically along twoaxes: thevolumeofthattoneandtheattackandreleaseofthattone’ssoundwave.

Thefirstofthese–volume–isunderstoodintermsofwhatmusicianscall“dynamics”,andthesecond–attackandrelease–isunderstoodintermsofthesound’s“articulation”or“phrasing”.

Dynamics refers to the volume of a sound, and articulation refers to thephysical process bywhich it ismade,which results in various kinds of attackandreleasecurvesinthesound’swave.

7.1.Dynamics

The dynamics of a piece of music changes as that piece progresses. Thepiece gets louder and it gets softer, and this creates a sense ofmovement anddrama.Thisisthecasewithallmusic.Eachperformanceofapiecewillhaveadifferentdynamicstructure,butinordertomaintainsomelevelofcontroloverthe performer’s dynamic range, composers notate dynamics. Theway they dothatisbyplacingcursivelettersaboveorbelowthestaffthatrepresentphrasesthatinstructtheperformer.“p,” for instance, stands for “piano,” and it instructs the performer to playquietly.“pp”instructsthemtoplayquieterstill,“ppp,”evenquieter,etc.“f”standsfor“forte,”anditinstructstheperformertoplaysomewhatloud(“ff”meanstoplaylouder,“fff”meansevenlouder,etc.).“mp”and“mf”telltheplayertoplaymoderatelyquietlyormoderatelyloud.

7.2.Articulation

Composersalsonotatethearticulationofanoteorseriesofnotes.Thistellstheperformerhowtophysicallycreatethetone–howtoproduceitsattackandrelease.Thebasicarticulationsare:legato,tenuto,andstaccato.

Legato notes, indicated by a curved line (slur) that connects notes to oneanother, shouldbeplayedwithoutpausesbetween thenotes.Thenotes shouldhavesoftattacksandthereleasesofthetonesshouldbleedintotheattacksofthetonesafterthem.Theoveralleffectissmoothandflowing.

Tenutonotes,indicatedbyastraighthorizontallineplacedaboveorbelowthenote,shouldsoundslightlylongerthannotated.Thisaddsgirthanddramatoaparticularsectionofmusic.

Staccatonotes, indicated by dots above or below the notes, should be playedquicklyandwithforce.Staccatonotesare insomewaystheoppositeof legatonotes.Aseriesofstaccatonotes,especiallywhenplayedfast,shouldrecall thesoundofamachinegun–eachnoteisquitedistinctfromthelastandeachattackishardandsudden.

7.3.Techniques

Every instrument has a distinct technical set.What thatmeans is that foreachinstrument,thereisarangeoftechniquesavailabletotheperformerthatisdistinct for that instrument.Aviolinist canpluck the stringswith their fingersanditwillbedifferentthanaguitaristdoingthesamething.Aguitaristcanplaya false harmonic, something that isn’t possible on a saxophone.A pianist canutilizehisorherfloorpedals.Andsoon.

In addition to these standard techniques, there is a range of extended

techniques for each instrument. A saxophone player can extend his rangeupwards,hecanhowl,hecanoverblow.Aguitaristcanmutethestringswithherleft hand, she can scratch the strings with her pick. All of these techniques,standardandextended,arecapableofbeingnotatedbyacomposer.Thesetofsymbolsthatrepresentsthesetechniquesisdifferentforeachinstrument,andcanvaryfromcomposertocomposer,butingeneraltheyareplacedabovethestafforaboveorbelowthenotesonthestafftoindicatetotheperformerhowtheyaremeanttoplayagivensequence.

CONCLUSION

Few things can make a good musician shudder more than learningsomething they don’t yet know. And for many musicians – beginning andadvanced alike – sightreading is one of those things. Many of us know howimportantitistobeabletomakesenseofawrittenpieceofmusic,butforthosewhoareuninitiated itcanbeadaunting task.The truth is that it isnotalwayseasy–thereisnoshortcuttobeingfluentinthelanguageofthestaff–butthatdoesn’tmeanthatithastobeterriblyhardeither.

Thisbookhasoutlined the fundamentals; it has,hopefully, startedyouon

yourpath.Use itasaguideandasa reference. Itcannotdo theworkforyou,however,andreadingthroughitcannotallbyitselfguaranteeyousuccess.Whatyouneedistimeandeffort.Youneedtoputintheenergy.Practicethesethings,make thempartofyour life, and itwillpaydividends.Return to thisguide tobrush up on the fundamentals. Seek out new resources to teach you moreadvanced concepts. Learn to apply all of the theory you have learned or arelearning to thewritten page. Learn towritemusic. Practice sightreading yourfavoritesongs.Inanycase,putinthetime.Itisworthit.

Lastly, if you got some value after reading this book it would greatly

appreciated if you could spend aminute and leave a review (good or bad) onAmazon.Thankyou!

Followingthisconclusion,thereisacollectionofexercisesdesignedtohelp

you internalize some of the things this book has discussed. It is highlyrecommended that you work through those exercises. But do not stop there.Return to them, rework them. Design your own. Always learn, always grow.Inspirationisbornofeffort.

APPENDIXA–HOWTOPRACTICE

Before the main text of this book is closed, let me offer some words ofadviceonpractice.Practiceisnotdistinctfromperformance.Practiceisnotwhatyou do before you play, before you compose. Practice is already a kind ofplaying. It is already improvising. It is already performing. It is alreadycomposing.Topracticewellmeanstopracticewithjoyandlightness,justasyouwouldaimtoperformorrecord.Ifyoucanpracticethatway,thennotonlywilllearningtosightreadbemorefun,itwillworkbetter.Youwillbemorelikelytoput in the kind of time you need to put in if you are truly, deeply enjoyingyourself(andifyouseeyourselfasmakingmusicandnotmerelygettingreadytomakemusic).Buildsightreadingpracticeintoyourdailymusicalroutine,justasyouwouldbuildinplayingscales.Don’ttrytodoitallatonce–thatwayliesfrustration – simply spend time, each day, even if it is five or ten minutes,learningtounderstandthewrittenwordofsound.

There are three things to remember when you’re beginning a practiceroutine:(i)Goslow(ii)Practiceinsmallchunks(iii)Takebreaks.(i)Oughttobeobvious,butitistoooftenhardtoemploy.Thepointisnottogoquickly.Thepointisnottoracetoreadingsomethinglongandfastanddifficult.Thepointistoimmerseyourselfinmusic,howeversimple,andbenefitfromthatimmersion. If you do that, and if you do it right, then you will feel yourselfbecomingabettermusicianveryquickly,eveninwaysyoudidn’texpectatthebeginning. If you rush, however, then you will inevitably be practicing badhabits,andyouwillbedoingyourselfadisservice.Youwillbe frustrated, thejoy will disappear, and you will neither progress as a sightreader nor as amusicianonthewhole.(ii) Is equally as important.By practicing in small chunks of time – 10 to 30minutesaday–youarebuilding it intoyour life inamanageableway. Itwill

thenbecomeapartofyourmusicianship, right fromthebeginning,whichwillencouragegrowthimmediately.Ifyoutakeontoomuchatatime,thenyouwillonceagainfeeltheburdenoffrustration,andyouwillstopmakingprogress.(iii) is not always obvious, but it is important nonetheless. Taking breaks is agreatway to increase your short-term productivity. It releases, tension, allowsyoutoregroup,andletsyoualwayscomeatwhatyou’redoingfresh.Ifyouarepracticingsomething fora long time (and30minutes isa long time) thenyoushouldbetakingatleastonebreak.Evenifyouareonlygoingtopracticefor20minutesaday,thenitmaybenefityoutosplititup–10minutesatthebeginningof your practice and 10 minutes at the end. A good split might have youidentifyingsomemanageablethingtoworkonforthatday,runningthroughitafewtimes(allowingit tofeeldifficult)andthentakingabreak,playingasyounormallywould, returning to your sightreading practice again at the end.Youwilllikelyfindthatwhatwasdifficultanhouragonolongerseemsashard.

Ifyoupractice the rightway–calmly,patiently,correctly,andwith joy–thenyouwillbegin tofeel thebenefitof thatpracticevirtually immediately. Itwillbeeasiertothinkaboutandtalkaboutmusic.Itwillbeeasiertolearnsongs.Itwillallseemalittleclearer.Eventually,youwillbeabletosightreadfluently.

APPENDIXB-EXERCISES

TheseexercisesarewrittenforCinstruments(instrumentstunedtoconcertpitch)onatrebleclef.Ifyourinstrumentrequiresanotherclef,suchasbassclef,and/or is tuned tosomethingother thanC, thenyouwillneed to transpose theexercises.Transpositionwillbediscussedshortly.1.Namingthenotes

The first step toward gaining confidence sightreading is to have deepfamiliaritywiththenotesofthestaff.Itisn’tenoughtosimplyknowthenotes,youhave tobeable torecognize themin thecontextofmelodicandharmonicstructures quickly.While it will be necessary to recognize entire structures atonce(suchaschordsandscaleparts), thatwillcomewithtimeasyoupracticereading.Whatyoucanworkonrightnowislearningthestaffcompletelysothatyou can effortlessly identify notes.This first exercise is all about gaining thateffortlessness.

Whatyouwillbedoingisidentifying,naming,andwritingdownthenotes

in some melodic sequence (including all of the notes of any chord and thatchord’s name). For each of the scores included at the end of this exerciseschapter,moveonebyone through thenotes andwrite down their nameson apieceofpaper.

Once you have done that, you can begin to play those notes on your

instrument.Movingonebyone,playeachnotethatyouhavenamedandwrittenonyourinstrument.

Thisexercisewillhelpyou togain fluencyandwillconnectyourmind to

thepagedirectly.Playingthenotesonyourinstrumentwillbegintheprocessofconnectingyourinstrumentrighttothewrittenmusic.

2.Transposing

IfyourinstrumentistunedtosomethingotherthanC,orifyouneedtoreadmusic in a clef other than treble clef, then you will need to transpose anystandard treble clef sheets.Even if this isnot thecase, transposition is agreatwaytogetahandleonkeysignatures.Inthisexercise,youwillbetransposingmusicintodifferentkeysandclefs.Thiswillhelpyoutoorientyourself to thewaydifferentkeysinteract,andwillhelpyoutoseethesamemusicalstructurewrittenindifferentplacesonastaff.

Foreachof theincludedexercises,youwillfirst transposethemusicfrom

trebleclefintobassclef.Youwillneedablankstaff,whichcanbefoundhere:https://www.blanksheetmusic.net. Begin by writing the clef symbol (payingcarefulattentiontowhereitrestsonthestaff)andthesignatures.Then,foreachnoteof thepiecewrittenintrebleclef,findthecorrespondingnoteonthebassclef.Writethepieceonbassclef.

Once you have written the piece in bass clef, you will go back to the

originalsheet(inC)andtransposeittoBb.BbiswhatTenorandSopranosaxesarewritten in. To do this, you need to understand theway instrument tuningworks. If an instrument is inC (alsoknownas concert pitch) then aCon thepianoisaConthatinstrument.

IftheinstrumentisinBb,however,thenaconcertC(onthepiano)isaBb

onthatinstrument.ThatmeansthataConthatinstrumentisactuallyaconcertD.Soeveryconcertnoteneedstobeshifteddownbyonefullstep.

Todo this, identify thekeyof thepieceyouare transposingandwrite the

newkeysignature,whichwillbeafullstepdown.Nowtakeeachnoteandwriteitastepdownaswell.Thatwillbeafullytranscribedversionofthepiece.

3.Clapping

Once you have practiced familiarizing yourself with the harmonic andmelodicstructureofapiece,timeisnext.Thebestwaytoimmerseyourselfintomusicaltimeistoclapyourhandstothepulseandtimesignatureofapieceofmusic.Foreachofthepiecesincluded,notethetimesignature.

Begin slowly, and try to clapor tapyourhands to the rhythmicvaluesof

eachnote–clappingwherethereisanoteandnotclappingwherethereisarest.Be sure to be accurate. If you have to, refer to the section of this book onrhythmicvalueanddoublecheckyourself.Onceyouhaveahandleonthefeelofthesong,increasethespeeduntilyouareclappingatthecorrecttempo.4.Sightreading

Nowitistimefortherealwork.Totakewhatyouhavepracticedandputitalltogether,itistimetosightreadpiecesofmusic.Inthisexercise,youwillstartslow and build to playing pieces at full speed. For each piece included here,moveslowlythroughthepieceandplayeachnoteorchordseparately.Besuretobeaccurate,evenifitmeansmovingveryslowly.Ifyoumakeamistake,itisok,simplystartover.Takebreakswhenyouneedto.

Youwillwant to begin by playing each of the notes, taking into account

their rhythmic values, as slowly as you can while maintaining some kind ofpulse.Onceyoucandothataccurately,itistimetoincreasethespeed.Workuptoplayingeachpieceatthenotatedtempo.Onceyouhavedonethat,youwillbereadingasheetofmusic!

ExerciseScoresExercise1:

Exercise2:

Exercise3:

Exercise4:

OTHERBOOKSBYNICOLASCARTER1.MusicTheory:FromAbsoluteBeginnertoExperthttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JX6EFKW2.GuitarforBeginners: ACompleteStep-by-StepGuidetoLearningGuitarforBeginnershttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XD01LZM3.GuitarFretboardMastery:AnIn-DepthGuidetoPlayingGuitarwithEasehttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AKIM5544.GuitarScales:AnExtremelyEffectiveGuideToUnderstandingMusicScalesAndModeshttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GZ586D65.ElectricGuitarGear:ACompleteBeginner'sGuideToUnderstandingGuitarEffectsAndTheGearUsedForElectricGuitarPlayinghttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CXCH3S4