Music Notation Notes – Music Test 16 March 2022
- The shape of musical notes indicates their value (length of sound)
Two ways of describing music note values:
- The British way
- The American way
Standard / Staff Notation:
- Musical notes are symbols used to represent sounds of varying lengths
- Musical notes consist of stems and heads and flags
Flag
Stem
Head
BritishAmerican:
g
Semibreve Whole Note
Minim Half Note
Crochet Quarter Note
counts ½ of 1 crochet beat
Quaver Eighth Note
Semiquaver Sixteenth Note
,Semiquavers:
- A quaver/eight note counts ½ of 1 crochet beat
- When two quavers are written together, they are joined
with a beam
- A semiquaver/sixteenth note counts ½ of 1 quaver beat
- It’s written as:
- When written together, 2 semiquavers are written as:
- Four semiquavers are written as:
Bars and Lines:
- Vertical lines called bar lines are used to divide music into equal sections to make
it easier to read
- Single bar lines divide sections of notes while a double bar line at the end of a
piece of music indicates the END
, Tied Notes:
- When a note carries over to the next bar, a tie links the two notes together
- The value of the first note is added to the second note because they’re joined
- The notes have to have the same pitch for there to be a tie
Ties link 2 notes of the
same pitch
- When clapping a tied note, we clap or play the first note only while holding and
counting in the second note
Slurs:
- Slurs link 2/more notes together
- Slurs link notes of different pitches smoothly
- This means we play the notes without breaks
Time Signatures:
- The 2 numbers at the beginning of a piece of music that look like a fraction without
a line are called time signatures
- The top number tells us how many beats are in each bar
- The bottom number tells us what kind of note is counted as the basic beat
- The shape of musical notes indicates their value (length of sound)
Two ways of describing music note values:
- The British way
- The American way
Standard / Staff Notation:
- Musical notes are symbols used to represent sounds of varying lengths
- Musical notes consist of stems and heads and flags
Flag
Stem
Head
BritishAmerican:
g
Semibreve Whole Note
Minim Half Note
Crochet Quarter Note
counts ½ of 1 crochet beat
Quaver Eighth Note
Semiquaver Sixteenth Note
,Semiquavers:
- A quaver/eight note counts ½ of 1 crochet beat
- When two quavers are written together, they are joined
with a beam
- A semiquaver/sixteenth note counts ½ of 1 quaver beat
- It’s written as:
- When written together, 2 semiquavers are written as:
- Four semiquavers are written as:
Bars and Lines:
- Vertical lines called bar lines are used to divide music into equal sections to make
it easier to read
- Single bar lines divide sections of notes while a double bar line at the end of a
piece of music indicates the END
, Tied Notes:
- When a note carries over to the next bar, a tie links the two notes together
- The value of the first note is added to the second note because they’re joined
- The notes have to have the same pitch for there to be a tie
Ties link 2 notes of the
same pitch
- When clapping a tied note, we clap or play the first note only while holding and
counting in the second note
Slurs:
- Slurs link 2/more notes together
- Slurs link notes of different pitches smoothly
- This means we play the notes without breaks
Time Signatures:
- The 2 numbers at the beginning of a piece of music that look like a fraction without
a line are called time signatures
- The top number tells us how many beats are in each bar
- The bottom number tells us what kind of note is counted as the basic beat
