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Lesson 1

Introduction

In this lesson, you are going to learn how to represent the keys you learned in music notation. Music
notation is used to record music in written form. Music notation is written on what is called a musical
staff. In piano, two staves are used. These two staves combine to form what is called the grand staff.

We name the ascensions of pitch with the first 7 letters of the alphabet, A B C D E F G. The alphabet
ascends smoothly through the lines and spaces of the grand stave. We repeat the names at each
eighth ascension.

ABCDEFGA

12345678

The Music Staff (Steve)

Let's take a look at the musical staff. Think of it as a visual representation of the piano keyboard.
Each line and space on the staff represents a white key on the piano keyboard. Moving notes up on
the staff from line note to space note or space note to line note corresponds with moving to the right
on the piano keyboard.

Clef Signs

Let's take a look at clefs. To make each space and line represent a specific white key on the piano,
clef signs are used. Piano music uses two clef signs, the treble clef, also called the G clef, and the
bass clef, also called the F clef.

Treble Clef

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Let's take a look at the treble clef, also known as the G clef. The G clef makes the line that the
circular part of the G clef sign wraps around a G above middle C. From this, you can figure out what
the rest of the notes are.

Bass Clef

Let's take a look at the bass clef, also known as the F clef. The line between the two dots of the F clef
is where the F below middle C goes. From here you can figure out the rest of the notes.

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All Cows Eat Grass

Grand Staff

The two staffs combine together to form the grand staff. You'll notice that middle C appears
in two different places on the grand staff. Actually, the line that the middle C appears on is
the same line. In order to make the grand staff easier to read, the line between the two
staves were removed and the two staves were spaced further apart.

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I often find it helpful to think of the grand stave. The top two lines of the alto clef are the bottom two
lines of the treble clef. The bottom two lines of the alto clef are the top two lines of the bass clef.

The tenor clef is a line under the alto clef. The top of the tenor clef is the bottom of the treble clef. The
middle of the tenor clef is the top of the bass clef. The bottom of the tenor clef is the middle of the
bass clef.

The easy ascension on the grand stave doesn't look so easy on the 5 line staves. The middle line is B
on the treble clef, D on the bass clef, C on the alto clef and A on the tenor clef.

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Lesson 2
Introduction

In this lesson, you are going to learn about how rhythm is represented in music notation.

Keeping Time in Music

When playing music, you have to know how to keep time. Music is divided into separate chunks of
time called "measures". Measures are separated from each other by a vertical line called a "bar line".

Time Signatures

A time signature tells you how a particular piece of music is played. A time measure consists of two
numbers written as a fraction (i.e. 4/4). The top number tells you how many counts (beats) are in each
measure, and the bottom number tells you what kind of a note (e.g. a whole note, a half note, etc.)
receives one count. For example, when the time signature is 4/4, the "4" on the top tells you that there
are four beats in each measure, and the "4" on the bottom tells you that a "quarter note" receives one
count (or beat). When a "time signature" shows "3/4", the "3" on the top tells you that there are three
beats in each measure, and the "4" on the bottom tells you that a "quarter note" receives one count.
Our lessons will be using the time signatures of "4/4, 3/4, and 2/4".

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Four Counts per Measure

Music written with a time signature of 4/4 has four counts per measure. Let's go ahead and count one
through four in each measure. Notice that there is a plus sign between the numbers. You can
substitute the plus sign (+) with "and". By doing this, you can count "one and two and three and four
and". This will make it easier for you to count an "eighth note" further in this lesson and lessons to
come.

Three Counts per Measure

Sometimes, music is written with three counts per measure instead of four. Music written with a time
signature of 3/4 is called 3/4 time and receives three counts per measure. Let's go ahead and count
"one and two and three and" in each measure.

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Two Counts per Measure

At other times, there are two counts per measure instead of four. Music written with a time signature
of 2/4 is called 2/4 time and receives two counts per measure. Let's go ahead and count "one and two
and" in each measure.

Conclusion

Good work! You have just learned how to represent the keys on the piano keyboard as music notation
and 3 types counting Beats in the Measure.

Jimmy John. Ph: 9968054765, email: ebenezerjimmy@gmail.com, web: www.ebenzerjimmy.com