Musical Alphabets, Staves and Basic Music Notation for JSS 1

Rudiments of Music

Performance Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. identify the musical alphabets;
2. explain the staff/stave in music;
3. draw the staff/stave;
4. place the musical alphabet in lines and space on the manuscript.

Introduction to Music Notation

Music, like language, can be written down so that others can read and perform it. Just as letters form words and sentences, musical symbols are used to create written music. These symbols help musicians understand how to play or sing a piece of music.

Musical Alphabets

In music, the first seven letters of the English alphabet are used to name musical sounds. These letters are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

After the letter G, the sequence repeats, starting again with A. This means there is no H, I, J, or other letters used for basic musical notes. The musical alphabet cycles through A to G repeatedly to name all the different sounds in music.

The Staff in Music

The staff, also known as a stave, is a fundamental element in written music. It is a set of five horizontal parallel lines and the four spaces between them.

The staff provides a framework where musical notes and symbols are placed to indicate their pitch and duration. The lines and spaces are counted from the bottom upwards.

Types of Staff

Different types of staff are used to write music for various instruments and voices. Each type helps to show the range of sounds that can be played or sung.

The main types of staff include:

1. Treble Staff: This staff is used for higher-pitched sounds. It is commonly used for instruments like the flute, violin, trumpet, and for female voices. It usually begins with a treble clef symbol.
2. Bass Staff: This staff is used for lower-pitched sounds. It is commonly used for instruments like the cello, bass guitar, tuba, and for male voices. It usually begins with a bass clef symbol.
3. Great Staff: This is a combination of both the treble staff and the bass staff, joined together by a brace. It is often used for instruments that have a wide range of pitches, such as the piano or organ, allowing both high and low notes to be written simultaneously.

Drawing the Staff/Stave

Drawing a clear and accurate staff is an important skill for writing music. It requires careful attention to detail to ensure the lines are parallel and evenly spaced.

The required materials are:

1. Pencil
2. Music manuscript paper or a plain sheet of paper
3. Ruler (optional, but helpful for straight lines)

The procedure involves the following steps:

1. Hold the pencil comfortably.
2. Place the paper flat on a stable surface.
3. Starting from the bottom, draw the first horizontal line across the paper. Ensure it is straight.
4. Draw four more parallel horizontal lines above the first one, making sure there is an equal distance between each line.
5. Check that there are exactly five lines and four spaces between them. The lines should be evenly spaced.

Placing Musical Alphabets on the Staff

Each line and space on the staff represents a specific musical sound, which is named using the musical alphabets (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). Notes can be placed either directly on a line or in a space between two lines.

When placing notes on the staff, the position of the note head (the round part of the note) determines its letter name. Moving upwards on the staff means the pitch of the sound gets higher.

The following diagram shows how musical alphabets are placed on the treble staff: