Start Reading Music
by Amy Appleby
A proven, step-by-step method on mastering the basics of sightreading.
Introduction
Whether you are an instrumentalist, singer, or composer, you can take a giant leap forward by learning to read music from the printed page. This book will provide you with everything you need to know to read music-and to communicate effectively with other musicians about standard music notation. By following this proven, step-by-step method, you can quickly master the basics of sight-reading-from the fundamentals of melody and rhythm to the subtleties of musical expression and ornamentation.
Learning to read music need not be a dull process of memorizing rules. In fact, you'll find many musical concepts quite easy to understand when you see and hear how they function in familiar songs. Reading music is a practical skill, so its important that you play or sing along as you learn to read. Be sure to obtain a fingering chart for your instrument, so you can play each example in the book. Special exercises are provided along the way to help you sheen your newfound skills. These also give you a chance to test your ability to read and understand music at each important stage in the learning process.
Contents:
and Rhythm and ScalesReading Notes on the Staff
Written music is a universal language of notes and symbols, arranged on the musical staff, which consists of five lines and four spaces.
The Treble Clef
Clefs are symbols that provide a frame of reference for writing notes on the staff. In other words, the clef tells the musician exactly which tones are indicated by the notes occurring on each line and space of the staff.
There are two clefs that commonly appear in written music: the treble clef and the bass clef. The treble clef is usually used in music intended for middle-and high-range instruments and voices, while the bass clef is used in music written for lower instruments and voices. Let's take a look at the treble clef on the staff.
This clef is also sometimes called the G clef because the curlicue of the clef sign circles the second line up from the bottom of the staff. This line marks the position of the G note, and so provides a frame of reference for notes placed on any of the other lines and spaces of the staff.
Naming Notes
Notes are the building blocks of music. Each note usually indicates two qualities: pitch and duration. Pitch is simply how high or low a particular tone sounds. Duration is how long an individual tone should last. We'll get into note duration in the next chapter. For now, let's focus on how notes indicate pitch.
Musical notes are named using the first seven letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. These letter names indicate notes in an ascending sequence-from low to high. After the final G note, the sequence begins again: A, B, C, D, E, F, G; A, B, C, D, E, F, G; and so on. Most instruments are able to produce a large enough range of notes to repeat this seven-note sequence several times.
The distance between any two notes with the same letter name is called an octave. This term, from the Greek word meaning "eight," reminds us that a note's letter name repeats at every eighth tone of the sequence. Although the two tones that form an octave are actually different notes, each tone sounds as if it were just a higher or lower version of the same note.
Notes on the Staff
Here are some notes arranged on the staff in the treble clef. Notice that a note falls on every line and space of the staff. When notes are arranged in a sequence like this they are collectively called a scale.
Take the time to memorize the position and name of each of these notes. Then test your ability to identify notes by looking at the familiar folk tune "Yankee Doodle." Write the appropriate letter name in the space provided below each note.
Leger Lines
Now that you are familiar with the notes on the staff in the treble clef, take a look at the notes that extend above and below the staff, The additional lines used to extend notes beyond the staff in this way are referred to as leger lines.
Take the time to memorize the position and names of each of these new notes. Then label each of the notes in the familiar tune phrases below. (Don't be confused by 'the dots and stems, which are covered in the next
chapter, "Note Values and Rhythm.")
Aura Lee (Love Me Tender)
The Bass Clef
Now take a look at the notes in the bass clef, This clef is also sometimes called the F clef because it forms a curlicue on the fourth line up from the bottom of the staff, Thus, the r note serves as a reference point for all other notes on the staff,
Take the time to memorize the position and name of each of these bass clef notes, Then write in the appropriate letter name in the space provided below each note of "Danny Boy." (The zig. zag symbol is a rest, or pause, which is covered in the next chapter,)
Leger Lines
Now that you are familiar with the notes on the staff in the bass clef, take a look at the notes that extend above and below the staff, As in treble clef, leger lines are used here to extend notes beyond the staff.
Take the time to memorize the position and names of each of these new notes, Then label each of the notes in the popular tune fragments provided below,
Contents:
and Rhythm and Scales