Basic Music Theory

Pitch

Pitch is the 'up and down' or the 'high and low' of musical notes.

Notes are named after letters, A to G.

The notes are hung on a frame of five lines and four spaces, called the STAVE.

The most common stave is the TREBLE. The curly G at the beginning (yes, it is a G!) is called the TREBLE CLEF and it kind of points to the G line. Here are the notes in the Treble...

There are quicker ways to remember where the notes go.

The notes in the spaces spell F A C E and the notes on the lines are E G B D F (you can remember this by Every Green Bus Drives Fast). Your left hand is a handy note-learner...

When the stave runs out of lines, you need extra lines above or below for the higher or lower notes.

These extra lines are called LEGER LINES

Duration and Rhythm

Different types of notes are hung on these lines. The different shapes show how long the notes are (the DURATION). Here are the main note values...

Working in the Classroom

Composing is Problem-Solving!

In Music lessons in class you will often be working co-operatively with others in groups. You will be set a task to make up or COMPOSE some music. You will then have to write about what you did. The record sheet asks you some of these questions:

• STARTING POINT - What did you have to start with? Who was in your group? What instruments did you use?
• GOALS - What was the task (goal)?
• OBSTACLES - How did you make up the piece? Did you have any problems? Who had the ideas?
• EVALUATION - How did the piece turn out in the end? What was good and/or bad about it? What could you do to improve
• TARGET - set yourself a target for next time based on some of your answers.