(TMS) The Musical Staff Module Overview

The Musical Staff

01_WordCloud.pngWhy learn to read music? That depends on what you hope to be able to do. Some musicians only concentrate on "playing by ear" rather than music-reading. Others will need to learn to read music very accurately, so they can play a piece of music exactly as written. Some musicians want to be able to use written music to help them figure out difficult pieces or memorize long ones. Wherever you are on this spectrum, you become a more well-rounded musician if you can read music.

Key Terms

  1. Bass Clef - The bass clef is known as the F clef.
  2. Grand Staff - When music on two staves is joined by a brace, or is intended to be played at once by a single performer (usually a keyboard instrument or the harp), a grand staff is created.
  3. Ledger Line - A ledger line is used in Western musical notation to notate pitches above or below the lines and spaces of the regular musical staff.
  4. Measure - A measure is a segment of time corresponding to a specific number of beats in which each beat is represented by a particular note value and the boundaries of the bar are indicated by vertical bar lines.
  5. Meter - Meter is the patterns of accents heard in regularly recurring measures of stressed and unstressed beats in music.
  6. Music Staff - The music staff is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represents a different musical pitch.
  7. Musical Alphabet - The musical alphabet consists of the following seven notes: A,B,C,D,E,F and G.
  8. Piano Keyboard - The piano keyboard refers to the keys on a piano consisting of a row of 88 black and white keys (52 white, 36 black).
  9. Time Signature - Time signatures are used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are to be contained in each measure of music and which note value is to be given the beat.
  10. Treble Clef - The treble clef is known as the G clef.

Finale Notepad Software

Please install a free version of Finale Notepad software to your computers at home and at school ASAP by going to Finale Notepad Links to an external site..

This latest version of Finale Notepad will be the only acceptable music writing software for your assignments this semester.

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