Being comfortable with music as a Song Leader

The Staff:  Five lines and four spaces, indicating which pitch to play  Vertical lines break the staff in to sections, called measures

The Clefs:  A symbol that determines the range of notes played on the staff  Found at the beginning of every staff  Two main clefs: Treble and Bass

The Clefs: Treble  Indicates higher notes, the top half of a piano  Called the G clef

The Clefs: Bass  Indicates lower notes, the bottom half of the piano  Called the F clef

The Grand Staff  When the Treble Clef and the Bass Clef are linked together you have a Grand Staff

The Grand Staff  Here is another look at a Grand Staff

Note Names  Each line and space in a staff has a name, corresponding to a certain note  Names differ between Treble and Bass clefs

Note Names: Treble  Lines: E, G, B, D, and F ( E very G ood B oy D eserves F udge)  Spaces: F, A, C, and E ( FACE )

Note Names: Bass  Lines: G, B, D, F, and A ( G ood B oys D eserve F udge A lways)  Spaces: A, C, E, and G ( A ll C ows E at G rass)

Other Clefs: Percussion  Used for percussion instruments, on a single line staff, or sometimes a five line staff too

Other Clefs: C clefs  Called the movable clef  Whichever line is in the middle of the clef symbol, that line is middle C

Notes  Symbols used to designates pitches and rhythms in music  Position in staff determines pitch  Shape of note determines rhythm (duration)

Notes: Types  Whole Note: four beats  Half Note: two beats (half of a whole note)

Notes: Types  Quarter Note: one beat (quarter of a whole note, half of a half note)  Eighth note: half a beat (hopefully by now you see the pattern

Notes: Types  Notes continue in to sixteenth and thirty- second notes, but we don’t sing anything beyond a sixteenth note.

The Dot! Dotted notes  Adding a dote to a note multiplies its duration by 1.5  Add half of the notes value to itself q e h w x q.q. e.e. h.h. w.w. = += 4 beats = 2 beats = 1 beat = ½ beat = ¼ beat w e q x = + h h q e

Rests  Just like a note, but stand for silence instead of a played pitch

Time Signature  A set of stacked numbers that determines the meter of the music  Top Number: number of beats in a measure  Bottom Number: size of a note that determines what a single beat is

Time Signature: Denominator explained  Bottom number is the note determining the beat (pulse)  Common time: bottom number is a 4, so a quarter note equals the beat  So, if the bottom number is 8, an eighth note is the pulse/beat of the music

Keys and the Circle of Fifths  Key is an arranged pattern of notes that correspond to a tonic pitch  12 major keys, 12 minor keys

Key Signature  Symbols that indicate what they key of the music is  Designated by sharps or flats at the beginning of every staff  Sharps raise a pitch, flats lower a pitch # = raise b = lower n = undoes a sharp or flat

Sharps and Flats last for every note in the measure. When a new measure begins, the accidental is deactivated. You have to know this as a singer

Sharps and Flats  Order of Flats: B E A D G C F  Order of Sharps: F C G D E A B Key of C# MajorKey of Cb Major

Sharps and Flats  Order of Flats: B E A D G C F  Order of Sharps: F C G D E A B

How the sharps and flats are supposed to help you read the music The key of C has no sharps or flats

When you put the song in the key of G every F in the music will automatically be sharp or raised a ½ step. The key of G has one sharp ---- F# # #

Without the key signature the sheet music would appear very busy From this To this

Examine “Singing I Go” The key of C has no sharps or flats

When you put the song in the key of G every F in the music will automatically be sharp or raised a ½ step. The key of G has one sharp ---- F# # #

Without the key signature the sheet music would appear very busy From this To this

Now lets put the song in it’s original hymn book key of A flat The key of A flat has 4 flats ---- B b E b A b D b

Without the key signature the sheet music would appear very busy From this To this

Put it all together (staff, clef sign, notes, measures, key signature, time signature), and you have some simple music.