Today We Begin... Make sure you have notebook and staff paper – you will want to take notes so you have a reference for your homework (it will be a couple.

Today We Begin...Make sure you have notebook and staff paper – you will want to take notes so you have a reference for your homework (it will be a couple weeks before we get our textbooks!)

Elements of PitchSubtitle

Pitch

▪ Pitch, in music, refers to the highness and lowness of a sound.

▪ Pitches are named by using the first seven letters of the alphabet – A, B, C, D, E, F, and G

The Staff

▪ A staff is used in music to indicate the precise pitch desired.

▪ A staff consists of 5 lines and 4 spaces, but it may be extended indefinitely through the use of ledger lines

▪ Every line or space represents a WHITE KEY on the keyboard

The Staff – Ledger Lines

▪ A ledger line is a small line that extends the staff when we run out of room

▪ Ledger Lines (high)

▪ Ledger Lines (low)

Clefs

▪ A clef must appear at the beginning of the staff

▪ The clef determines which pitches are associated with which lines and spaces

▪ 4 Clefs: Treble, Bass, Alto, and Tenor– Correspond to different ranges▪ Treble: HIGHEST pitches

▪ Alto

▪ Tenor

▪ Bass: LOWEST pitches

The Treble Clef – “G” Clef

▪ The Treble Clef is also known as the G clef – it draws a “G” around the G line

▪ It represents the highest range of pitches

▪ Flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, and violin players all read treble clef

The Treble Clef – Lines & Spaces

▪ The lines on the Treble Clef (from bottom to top) are E G B D F– “Every Good Boy Does Fine”

▪ The spaces on the Treble Clef (from bottom to top) spell the word FACE

The Treble Clef - Practice

▪ Name the pitch. Use your notes and take your time.

D G

C F

The Treble Clef - Practice

▪ Name the pitch. Use your notes and take your time.

A F

D E

The Bass Clef – “F” Clef

▪ The Bass Clef is also known as the F clef – the two dots surround the F line

▪ It represents the lowest range of pitches

▪ Bassoon, Trombone, Baritone/Euphonium, Tuba, Cello, and Bass players read bass clef

The Bass Clef – Lines & Spaces

▪ The lines on the Bass Clef (from bottom to top) are G B D F A– “Good Boys Do Fine Always”

▪ The spaces on the Bass Clef (from bottom to top) are A C E G– “All Cows Eat Grass”

The Bass Clef - Practice

▪ Name the pitch. Use your notes and take your time.

C E

G E

The Bass Clef - Practice

▪ Name the pitch. Use your notes and take your time.

G B

B D

The Alto Clef – “C Clef”

▪ The Alto Clef is known as a C Clef – the middle of the clef marks where middle C is

▪ It is LOWER than the Treble clef, but HIGHER than the bass and tenor clefs

▪ Violas play in alto clef

The Alto Clef – Lines and Spaces

▪ The lines of the alto clef (from bottom to top) are F A C E G

▪ The spaces (from bottom to top) are G B D F

The Alto Clef - Practice

▪ Name the pitch. Use your notes and take your time

G D

F D

The Tenor Clef – “C Clef”

▪ The Tenor Clef is known as a C Clef – the middle of the clef marks where middle C is

▪ It is LOWER than the Treble clef and Alto clefs, but HIGHER than the Bass clef

▪ Trombones and bassoons will play in tenor clef (in their higher registers)

C

The Tenor Clef – Lines and Spaces

▪ The lines of the tenor clef (from bottom to top) are D F A C E

▪ The spaces (from bottom to top) are E G B D

The Alto Clef - Practice

▪ Name the pitch. Use your notes and take your time

D C

A E

Staff Relationships

▪ Below is where Middle C is on Treble, Bass, Alto, and Tenor Clefs

▪ Composers try to avoid ledger lines

as much as possible – if the range

of an instrument is consistently

higher or lower than usual, the clef

will change

(if available – there is nothing higher than the

treble clef. Flutes and clarinets read a LOT of

ledger lines)

The Grand Staff

▪ The Grand Staff is a staff that combines the treble and bass clefs

▪ Middle C lands right between the two

Octave Registers

▪ Octaves directly related to the keyboard

▪ The C nearest the middle of the keyboard is called “Middle C” or C4.

▪ Higher C’s (moving towards the right of the keyboard) are named C5, C6, and so on.

▪ Lower C’s (moving towards the left) are named C3, C2, and C1. Notes below C1 are followed by a 0 – B0 and A0.

Octave Registers

C4 C5 C6 C7 C8C3C2C1

Octave Registers

▪ From any C up to or down to the next C is called an octave

▪ All the pitches from on C up to, but not including the next C are said to be in the same octave register

▪ The white key above C4 would be D4 because it is in the same octave register

▪ However, the white key below C4 would be named B3– (we go C-C because the C Major scale involves all the white keys)

Octave Registers

C4

B3 D4

C3

B2 D3

Octave Registers - Practice

▪ Middle C is C____

▪ Give the pitch and octave number

? ???

C4

Assignment

▪ Complete Self-Test 1-1 And Exercise 1-1

▪ You may get started in class now – finish the rest for homework

▪ This will be collected first thing tomorrow