Basic Theory

An Introduction to Music Theory

This section on Basic Theory is an introduction to those of you that have had little or no experience in music. You may see it as a chance to brush up on basic concepts or just get to know a little more about music theory.

So what is music theory? Quite simply it is the theory behind the music. What makes up music?......... notes, clefs, staves, rests, intervals, accidentals, time signatures, key signatures.......and the list goes on. But first we need to start with the very basics.

Pitch - Sound - Notes - Staves - Clefs

Pitch is how low or how high sound is placed.

Sound is shown on the piano for example by keys. It is shown on music by printed characters called notes.

The note sounds are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet: A B C D E F G

Notes are given pitch position by being placed on 5 lines and in 4 places called a Stave.

Two Staves are in general use:

• One for the low sounds played by the left hand on a piano called the Bass or F Clef

• One for the high sounds played by the right hand on a piano called the Treble or G Clef

A clef is a sign placed at the beginning of every Stave of music to give definite pitch position and an alphabetical name to all the notes placed on the Stave.

CLEFS

The top Clef is the Treble or G Clef - The bottom Clef is the Bass or F Clef

Diagram 1.

Bass Clef or F Clef

• MC stands for Middle C, the grandfather note. It is placed on the first ledger line above the bass clef or the 1st ledger line below the treble clef. (They are the same note) See C4 above.
• Ledger lines are the short lines used above and below the staves upon which notes are placed when they are too high or too low to be put on the Staves. (In Diagram 1, this is represented by C4 in the treble clef and E2 in the Bass Clef)
• When you go from a given note name to another note of the same name, you pass through seven different names plus the repeated one. This is 8 notes in all and is called an Octave. e.g. C D E F G A B C

General Music Notation

This time signature, indicates the relationship between timing counts and note symbols, while the bar lines group notes on the staff into measures.

Bar Lines

• Bar lines are the short vertical lines drawn across the Stave at regular metrical beat intervals according to the counting given in the line signature

• Bar Lines are used to separate measures. They are also extended to connect the upper and lower staffs of a grand staff.
• Double Bar Lines : Used to separate two sections of music. Also used at changes in key signature, time signature or major changes in style or tempo.
• Double Bold Bar Lines: Used to indicate the conclusion of a movement or an entire composition.
• Dotted Bar Lines : Used to subdivide long measures into shorter segments for ease of reading.
• When double bar lines have dots placed before them, it means that the section just played or sung is to be repeated.

• If the dots are placed after the double bars, the section ahead is to be repeated.

  In this example, the section between the dots is to be repeated.

• Bars are not always the same length by ruler-measurement, but each bar of a piece contains the same number of beat counts. This is shown by the time signature at the beginning of the piece.
• Download a free chart on all the lines in music, including bar lines.

Notes

Parts of A Note

There are 6 shapes in general use and three shapes not used very much. See all the notes, and feel free to download them anytime.

The 6 notes in general use are:

• Semibreve - whole note
• A Minim - half note
• A Crotchet - quarter note
• A Quaver - eighth note
• A Semi-Quaver - sixteenth note
• A Demi-Semi-Quaver - thirty second note

The 3 notes not generally used are:

• Breve - double whole note
• A Hemi-Demi-Semi-Quaver - sixty fourth note
• A Semi Hemi-Demi-Semi-Quaver - one hundred and twenty eighth note (You would be really pushing to play at this speed!!!)

Basic Theory:

• Notes represent sound

• Rests represent silence

• Each note has a rest of the same name (e.g. quaver - quaver rest or eighth note rest)

• A semibreve rest may be used for a whole bar rest at any time no matter how many beats are in each bar.

• Notes which have tails may be grouped instead of being left single (e.g. the quaver family may all be grouped...quaver, semi-quaver. demi-semi-quaver etc.)

There are 3 ways to make notes and rests longer in value:

• Dot(s)
• Rest(s)
• Tie(s)

1.  A dot placed after a note makes it half as long again in value. Two dots make a note half plus a quarter longer in value.

2.  A pause placed under or above a note lengthens it for an indefinite period according to the performers' preference.

3.  A tie is a curved line over 2 or more notes of the same alphabetical name or pitch. The first note is sounded and sustained until the values of all the notes end.

Please feel free to download a copy of notes and rests.

Note Names, Rests & Dotted Notes..... a detailed explanation

Rules regarding the stems of notes

• When notes are written from the lower part of the stave up to and on the third line, they usually have their stems placed on the right side of the note turning upwards with tails or flags down to the right.
• Notes written on the third line and above, usually have their stems placed on the left side of the note turning downwards with tails or flags up to the right.
• Tail always turn to the right

• Notes which have tails may be grouped instead of being left single (e.g. the quaver family may all be grouped)

I hope you have enjoyed this session on Basic Theory. Keep working at it. Just remember that you have to crawl before you can walk. It's like everything in life. The more you do it, the more natural it becomes. Your confidence grows and grows and before you know it, you're an expert!! Remember, Perseverance is GOLDEN...................

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