Music uses a variety of symbols to communicate different things. In the musical language, some of these symbols work like punctuation marks, while others work like letters and words. The musical language is all written on a set of five lines and four spaces called a staff.
The staff's lines and spaces are numbered from bottom to top. Practice counting this staff's lines and spaces that way.
Question: How do you know which is the top and which is the bottom? How do you know you're not looking at the staff upside-down? You need a clef!
Bass Clef |
Treble Clef |
Tenor Clef |
These are the three clefs you will see most often in music you read. The clef we will use in this quest is the treble clef. The treble clef is also called the g clef, because it curls around line 2, which has the letter name g.
The most important symbols you should know are notes. There are different kinds of notes, which you'll learn about in the rhythm section. On the staff, notes can be on lines or spaces.
Two more symbols you need to know are the time signature and the barline. These symbols have to do with the meter of the music.
This time signature tells you that there are 4 beats per measure (top number), and that the quarter note (1/4, bottom number) is the beat. The space between two barlines is called a measure. If this measure happened after the time signature above, how many beats would belong in it?
For practice with more musical symbols, click here.
Move on to learn more about the treble clef in PITCH>>.
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Developed by Ashley Creely, Music Specialist, Gateway Elementary School
Copyright 2008
