Introduction

1.1 The Staff

The Staff is composed of five evenly spaced horizontal parallel lines.  Notes are placed on the staff either a) on the lines or b) in the spaces between the lines.  In the musical alphabet (ABCDEFG) adjacent notes alternate line-space-line or (space-line-space), while "every other note" passages appear as line-line-line or space-space-space.

1.2 Clefs

To indicate which specific notes are being called for, a Clef is used.  The Clef may theoretically represent any pitch but typically indicates the pitches C, F, or G (see below).  These provide a fixed "anchor," from which other pitches may be reckoned using the rules above (see 1.1).

Although most musicians are familiar with the G and F clefs (see below), you should be aware of the existence of the "C clef," which designates middle C:

Ex 1.  The C clef

 

1.3  The Grand Staff

A common configuration (especially for piano) is the "Grand Staff," which combines two staves, the topmost uses a G clef and the lowest staff uses an F clef.  These two staves are joined by a thin vertical line and a curly bracket, as seen below:

Ex 2.  The Grand Staff.

1.4  Drawing Notes on the Staff

Contrary to popular belief, notes must be formed in a very specific way for them to look "correct."  Below are some examples of poorly-formed notes:

Example 3: Incorrect black notes

The note on the left is a perfect circle (incorrect) and the note on the right is an ellipse (also incorrect).  Example 4 (below) illustrates the correct way to form a black note on the staff:

Ex. 4: A correct black note

Notice that this note is neither a perfect ellipse or a circle; instead, it appears more like an ellipse rotated 35^O to the left (but not quite).  Example 5 shows the difference between white and black notes:

Example 5: White and black notes

T"> White whole notes are elliptical but have shading that is tilted to the left, while white half notes are shaped like black notes but have shading that moves towards the right.

1.5 Stems

If a note is above the middle line of the five-line staff, the step appears on the left-hand side of the note, pointing down.  If a note appears below the middle line, the stem is always to the right, pointing up.  A note on the middle line will have its stem placed so that it matches its neighbors (see below)

Example 6: Stems

  1.6  Accidentals, Dynamics, and Other Symbols One of the best ways to learn how to draw symbols is to closely examine actual engraved music.  Sharp signs, for example, are composed of two vertical lines slightly offset from one another (the right line is placed slightly higher than the left), crossed with two diagonal lines.  Accidentals are always placed to the left (in front of) the note it affects).  These diagonal lines are approximately 3-4 times thicker than the verticals and have their ends trimmed so the ends are parallel with the verticals.

Dynamic markings use a specific font face as well.  See Example 6 (below) and carefully examine these symbols.

Example 6: Accidentals and Dynamics

1.7  Alternate Notations

FACE="Arial,Helvetica,Univers,Zurich BT">Modern music is a pastiche of a variety of styles, and each style will often have its own notational language.  You must be familiar with all of them (or be able to decipher them) to be successful.  Below are just a few examples.  How many of these have you seen or used?  What do you think each one does?