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NOTES

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One of the most basic elements in music is the note.
In written music, it might look like this:
Some free-standing notes

Or this (if there are more than one):

or

THE STAFF

The five horizontal lines on which the notes sit are called a staff.

a staff with no notes on it

Each line or space on the staff is for its own note.

Notes represent sounds called pitches. Because music employs a set of pitches (ranging from low to
high), the staff acts like a map for the notes--allowing us to hear, read or write them as:

Higher
(higher on the staff)

Lower
(lower on the staff)

We read the sequence of notes from left to right.

Another way to understand the idea of pitches being lower or higher is to compare it to bears and birds.
A bear's voice is low-pitched, while the voice of a bird's is high (this explanation works well for children!).
A less musically specific term for pitch is frequency, which is also referred to as low or high.

1
 THE KEYBOARD

In Western music, pitches and notes are specific and have specific names. We use the first seven
letters of our alphabet: A through G.

To see these notes in connection with a music making device, let's look at a standard keyboard:

A modern keyboard has a total of 88 keys (black and white combined) as

opposed to the 60 in this illustration

...etc etc...

lower register middle register higher register

each white key is a different note

Register refers to high or low pitch range and is more often a relative term.

Since there are obviously more than seven pitches on the keyboard, the A to G series repeats itself many
times. Above we have C to C in brackets for reasons that will soon be obvious.

You will notice that the pattern made by the white and black keys also repeats with the series.

Because there are also more than seven combined lines and spaces on a staff, we can begin to see how a
staff, or two staffs, could accommodate all these notes.

N.B. in these examples we will see how music notation connects with the keyboard. It should be understood
that this notation works with all instruments.

2
 CLEFS

The clef, a symbol that sits at the leftmost side of the staff, specifies which lines and spaces belong to which
notes. In a sense, the clef calibrates or orients the staff to specific notes.

The three most common clefs are:

The Treble clef for high range notes

The Bass clef for low range notes

The Alto clef for middle range notes

The Treble clef (also called the G Clef because it looks like a calligraphic "G") works as follows:

Notice that the curl of

the clef circles the line
that will be the note G
(the 2nd line from the bottom).
The G note on the G line

The Bass clef (also called the F Clef because it looks like an "F") works as follows:

The F note on the F line

The two dots surround the
line that will be the note F
(the 4th line).

The Alto clef (also called the C Clef):

Although it is important
to know about the Alto
Clef, we will spend more
time talking about and
The two curls pinch the The C note on the C line
working with the Treble
C line (the 3rd line). and Bass Clefs.

3
 9

(a)

(b)

Figure 1.6: You can use a word or silly sentence to help you memorize which notes belong on
the lines or spaces of a clef. If you don't like these ones, you can make up your own.
How to read music
Notes on ledger lines: learn how to read notes outside the
staff

The spectrum of notes available is potentially infinite but the staff lines cannot hold
more than a limited number of notes. This is why extra lines, known as ledger lines, are
added to notes to help with identifying them.

The best way to understand how ledger lines work is to imagine a virtual series of lines,
laid above the staff, rising up as far as necessary. All the lines needed to reach that note
are then added to it.

In this example, the ledger lines needed to read the note have been added. These make it possible
to identify the name of the note and its pitch. In this case, the note is a B.

HOW TO RECOGNISE NOTES WITH LEDGER LINES

You can use the same rhymes used for learning notes on the staff, as in the diagram:

The same applies to the bass clef:

© Chris Jenks 2014 Page 1

 Note Reading Worksheet
Bass Clef Exercise #1


G B D

F

A
  
Good Boys Do Fly Airplanes

      
LINES: Write each note's name underneath
      
  
     
          


A C

E

G
 
All Cows Eat Grass

  
SPACES: Write each note's name underneath
       
     
         
      

     
ALL NOTES: Write each note's name underneath. Each measure's notes spell a word.
  
     
        
   
         
            
Name_______________________ Date____________________

The Staff - Bass Clef

A clef appears at the beginning of ?
each staff. The clef shown here is a

? w w w
bass clef.

w w w w
Each note on the bass clef staff has
a letter name. w w
G A B C D E F G A
________________________________________________________________________________

1. Practice drawing the bass clef sign by tracing over the guidelines. Draw five more in the remaining space.

w w w w w
w
2. Draw a bass clef at the beginning of the staff and write the letter name of each note.

w w w w
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

3. Draw the bass clef at the beginning of the staff and then draw the notes indicated.
If a note can be drawn in more than one place on the staff, choose which one you want to draw.

C A E D F G B C D G

w w w w w
4. Draw the bass clef at the beginning of the staff.

w w w w
Write the letter name for each note, then circle the higher note in each pair.

w w w
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

w w w
5. Draw the bass clef at the beginning of the staff.

w w w
Write the letter name for each note, then circle the lower note in each pair.

w w w w w w
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Finale Worksheets, Copyright © 2009 by MakeMusic, Inc.
®

MakeMusic grants permission to duplicate this worksheet for non-profit, educational use only, provided each copy includes this copyright notice.
Copies may not be sold or included in any materials offered for sale to the general public.
Name_______________________ Date____________________

Bass Clef - Ledger Lines

w w w w
Ledger lines can be used to extend the upper

?
and lower ranges of a staff.

w w w w
This example includes notes which can be
written above and below the bass clef using
ledger lines. C D E F B C D E
________________________________________________________________________________

w w
1. Draw a bass clef at the beginning of the staff and write the letter name of each note.

w w
w w w w
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

w w w
2. Draw a bass clef at the beginning of the staff and write the letter name of each note.
w
w w
w w w w
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

w
3. Draw the indicated notes. Use ledger lines to draw the specified number of pitches without duplication.

? w ? ?
Example

3 Cs
w 3 Ds 2 As

? ? ?
2 Bs 2 Fs 2 Bs

? ?
2 Gs 3 Cs
Finale® Worksheets, Copyright © 2009 by MakeMusic, Inc.
MakeMusic grants permission to duplicate this worksheet for non-profit, educational use only, provided each copy includes this copyright notice.
Copies may not be sold or included in any materials offered for sale to the general public.
 Note Reading Worksheet
Treble Clef Exercise #1


   
E G B D F
 
Every Good Boy Does Fine

   
LINES: Write each note's name underneath
     
      
  
             

F A C
 E
  
The letter names of the spaces spell out the word FACE

       
SPACES: Write each note's name underneath
       

    
           

   
ALL NOTES: Write each note's name underneath. Each measure's notes spell a word.
         

     
      
    
                 
Name_______________________ Date____________________

The Staff - Treble Clef

A clef appears at the beginning of
each staff. The clef shown here is a &
w w w
treble clef.

Each note on the treble clef staff has &w w w w w w

a letter name.
E F G A B C D E F
________________________________________________________________________________
1. Practice drawing the treble clef sign by tracing over the guidelines. Draw five more in the remaining space.

w
Start here

w w w
2. Draw a treble clef at the beginning of the staff and write the letter name of each note.

w w w w w w
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
3. Draw the treble clef at the beginning of the staff and then draw the notes indicated.
If a note can be drawn in more than one place on the staff, choose which one you want to draw.

A C E F D B A F D G

w w
4. Draw the treble clef at the beginning of the staff.

w w w w
Write the letter name for each note, then circle the higher note in each pair.

w w w w w w
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

w w w
5. Draw the treble clef at the beginning of the staff.

w w w
Write the letter name for each note, then circle the lower note in each pair.

w w w w w w
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Finale® Worksheets, Copyright © 2009 by MakeMusic, Inc.
MakeMusic grants permission to duplicate this worksheet for non-profit, educational use only, provided each copy includes this copyright notice.
Copies may not be sold or included in any materials offered for sale to the general public.
Name_______________________ Date____________________

Treble Clef - Ledger Lines

w w w w
Ledger lines can be used to extend the upper
and lower ranges of a staff.

&
w w w w
This example includes notes which can be
written above and below the treble clef using
ledger lines. A B C D G A B C
________________________________________________________________________________

w w
1. Draw a treble clef at the beginning of the staff and write the letter name of each note.

w w
w w w w
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

w w w
2. Draw a treble clef at the beginning of the staff and write the letter name of each note.

w w
w w w
w w
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

w
3. Draw the indicated notes. Use ledger lines to draw the specified number of pitches without duplication.

w
Example

& & &

w
3 Cs 2 Ds 3 As

& & &

2 Es 2 Fs 3 Bs

& &
2 Gs 3 Cs
Finale® Worksheets, Copyright © 2009 by MakeMusic, Inc.
MakeMusic grants permission to duplicate this worksheet for non-profit, educational use only, provided each copy includes this copyright notice.
Copies may not be sold or included in any materials offered for sale to the general public.