and Bass Clef AND the other chords in the Key of C: Dm or ii, Em or iii, Am or vi, and Bdim or viidim. Check it out and see that the rule works!

Transcription

1 First off, open up and print out the Two Clefs to One PDF file. You will be asked to fill in the names of the notes in each of the five sections shown. Got it printed? Is it at the side of your computer as you go through this article? Do you have a sharpened pencil at hand, ready to start? Good! At the far left of the PDF file are the symbols for the two clefs in Standard Music Notation. They are so named (for their relative sounds): the Treble Clef (higher) and the Bass Clef (lower sounds). Usually, after the Clef symbols and before the first measure, the Time Signature (4/4, 3/4, etc.) is given as well as indicators for strings with sharps (#) or flats (b). We will deal with this later and start with note locations that have no sharps or flats. The banjo is a C instrument. Everything here is presented in G-tuning. For both Clefs the horizontal lines and spaces (in between the lines) are places for note locations in the Key of C. In the section marked #1, you are given three C notes: MC (Middle C, in the middle of the two Clefs) as well as the highest and lowest C notes. (Parentheses are shown to indicate continuation of note locations beyond the Clefs. When these note locations are not needed, they are not included or hidden on the two Clefs.) The Treble Clef symbol seems to be circling the second line up from Middle C (MC). A G note is found on that line. An F note is found in the Bass Clef on the line that has two dots on either side of the Bass Clef symbol. Pencil in these F and G notes. The F, C, and G notes, of course, form the basis of the major chords in the Key of C: IV (F), I (C), and V (G). There are places where other note locations can be indicated on each line and on the spaces between the lines in both clefs. Starting with the F note in the Bass Clef, pencil in the rest of the notes going up to the C note above MC as follows: F, then G in the space above, A is on the highest line of Bass Clef, B is in the space before MC (already given),

2 then D at the space at the bottom of the Treble Clef, E at the bottom line, F in the following space, etc. You should arrive at another C note in a space after the B note location. The notes in this F to high C (above MC) sequence is the focus of most music melodies. Now fill in the rest of the notes, continuing upwards from high C with a D, E, & F in The Treble Clef and G, A, B, and highest C (given) above the F-note line. Also, from the lowest C note given in the Bass Clef, work your way up (D, E, F, before the bottom G- note line) and G, A, B, C, D, and E to the double-dots F-note line. You have now identified all the notes in the Key of C and can now start reading music written in the Key of C. A couple of observations about these notes in both Clefs: 1. There are four octaves in the two Clefs in the Key of C... two in the Bass Clef and two in the Treble Clef. 2. By focusing on the consecutive notes on the lines OR on the spaces, you can see how chords are presented in the Key of C: In the Treble Clef, going upwards in sound from Middle C (MC) on the lines, we have the C, E, & G notes which make the C chord (I or root). Doing the same thing starting from the G-note line, we have the G, B, & D notes, which make the V or G chord. On the spaces between lines, the F, A, & C notes make the IV or F chord. This threelines-or-three-spaces-in-a-row rule works for chords in both the Treble and Bass Clef AND the other chords in the Key of C: Dm or ii, Em or iii, Am or vi, and Bdim or viidim. Check it out and see that the rule works! In the section marked #2 (to right of dotted vertical line), we can determine all the notes in the Key of C that that banjo can make in G tuning. The five notes of G tuning have been indicated by the string number for each. First fill in these five tuning notes on their appropriate lines or spaces. Then complete all the rest of the notes as you did before in the Key of C. (Try not to look over at section #1 as you do so.) Notice that a whole octave in the Bass Clef, from lowest C to lower C below MC, is missing from the notes you can play on a banjo.

3 In G tuning, the banjo range is nearly three octaves, from the low D (4 th string) in the Bass Clef to the highest C in the Treble Clef (found at the 22 nd fret of the 1 st or 5 th string). The lines and spaces in the Bass Clef below low D have been discontinued as there are no notes to be played there in G tuning on the banjo. Although you can read and play music that is written out in both Clefs (with the limitations on the banjo range as noted above), usually the Bass Clef is entirely eliminated and only the Treble Clef is shown in Standard Music Notation for the banjo. (See the next three sections to the right of the double line.) As a result, there are a lot more potential note locations (especially below the Treble Clef low D note) that are hidden until needed, as are shown in parentheses. To make it easier to recognize notes, then, most Banjo Music is written in the Treble Clef at an octave higher than the actual pitch of the notes. In this octave higher approach, the un-fretted 4 th string note (D) of the banjo from the Bass Clef is written as if it is on the space below the bottom line of the Treble Clef. This allows you to play the notes of the Treble Clef without having to figure out which of the hidden note locations below the D note you need to play. This approach works only if the low D note is the lowest note in the piece of music you are playing. If a MC or lower note is shown in the piece, then this octave higher approach will not work. The D note is a critical indicator in determining whether your are going to use the raised octave approach or not. See the partial beginnings of two tunes below, copied from a fake book, The Real Bluegrass Book, published by Hal Leonard with arrangements by Matt Flinner. The first is a traditional tune in the Key of A (three sharps), Bill Cheatham. The lowest note of the piece is a D as shown in the Treble Clef. Therefore, you can use the raised octave approach, with your lowest D played as a un-fretted 4 th string and play most of the notes near the neck. The second tune - New Camptown Races by Frank Wakefield in the key of Bb (two flats) - starts off with six notes (G, A, Bb, A, Bb, & C) before

4 low D note. Therefore, the raised octave approach will not work and the notes of the piece are to be played at their actual pitch. In the 3 rd, 4 th and 5 th sections, the notes on the lines and spaces still hold from what we have already determined in the Key of C, but now one or more of these notes may be adjusted with a sharp (#) or a flat (#). A sharp (#) raises the note by a fret and a flat (b) lowers the note by a fret. Banjo music can be written with the sharps or flats indicated next to the notes, especially when the Key you are playing in does not normally have a sharp or a flat. However, in Standard Music Notation, the sharps or flats are usually indicated after the Clef symbol and before the time signature. In the 3 rd, 4 th and 5 th sections, we are assuming the continuation of the Treble Clef symbol and simply indicating the sharps or flats. In the section marked #3, a sharp (#) is shown on the highest F line, which means we are in the Key of G. However, ALL F notes are to be sharpened. The note locations for the three F#s are given. Now fill in Treble Clef notes from D (space below the bottom line) to highest C note (top hidden note line) as you would when using the raised octave approach. Next, identify and fill in all the hidden notes that fall below the D note, from MC and below to the lowest D. In the section marked #4, we are now in the Key of D, with two sharps (#s): F# and C#. Sharp indicators (#) are shown on the highest F line and the C space. Again, ALL F and C notes should be sharpened. Note locations for the three F#s and three C#s are given. The Key of D is ideally suited for the raised octave approach in pieces of music that has a D as the lowest note, where you can use the open 4 th string D. If there are notes below D, the raised octave approach cannot be used. Go ahead and fill in all the notes as we did before, on spaces and lines of the Treble Clef and then the hidden notes that fall below D. Lastly, in the section marked #3, we are in the Key of F, with one flat (b) which is Bb. All the Bbs are indicated and you should fill in the rest of

5 the notes in the Key of F as you did before, on spaces and lines of the Treble Clef and then the hidden notes that fall below D. Question: How do we tell the Key we are in from the sharps and flats indicated? Answers: None=the Key of C. For sharps, the note following the last sharp indicated=the Key we are in. In Bill Cheatham, G# is the last sharp indicated before the A note, so we are in the Key of A. For flats, the note following the last flat indicated=the 4 th note of the scale of the Key you are in. For New Camptown Races, Eb is the 4 th note of the Bb scale, so we are in the Key of Bb. Usually in fake books, melody notes and the chords are presented. Look at the two tunes copied from the fake book and see if you can play the melody notes. Perhaps you are used to playing Bill Cheatham in the Key of C. The notes in the Key of A make the same melody, but at a different pitch. Play the tune under the raised octave approach, starting with an A on the 3 rd string second fret before going to the F#, E, C#, etc. Perhaps you are unfamiliar with New Camptown Races and/or do not normally play in the Key of Bb. Give it a go anyhow, WITHOUT a capo, to see if you can pick out the first line of the melody. For this tune, you cannot use the raised octave approach and the notes are played at their actual pitch. For strictly bluegrass pickers, playing a melody line in a fake book (or in other types of musical material in Standard Music Notation) is not going to help you play bluegrass-type rolls and licks, but it should make you more aware of where the melody notes are. It will also help with playing notes consecutively on the same string, a style that is sometimes called single string style. To start reading music and playing notes as you read them, it s probably best to find some musical material (in fake books or otherwise) that you are already familiar with - some song or tune that you know thoroughly. By starting with the familiar, the melody is already in you head. As you try to read and pick out the melody notes, you are already half way there to recognizing the notes as written out.

6 Throughout this article, an emphasis has been places on the low D note in the Treble Clef. It is important to first check that D note before you begin to play - to determine if you can use the raised octave approach or not. Additionally, the 4 th string of the banjo in G tuning (D) is important because it has almost the same number of notes in the Bass Clef (10) as the Treble Clef (12) (that is, below and above MC). Let s rename the 4 th string of the banjo The Mighty D because of its importance. In the other PDF file (The Mighty D) the banjo neck, musical notations, tablature, and a keyboard are shown and how they relate to the Mighty D. Also shown are the similar relationships of the actual pitch notes for the 1 st string (called the mini D ) and/or the notes where you can play the melody line with the raised octave approach on the 4 th string. After the first four frets on the 1 st string, the notes on the 1 st string and the 5 th string are exactly the same (from the 5 th fret through the 22 nd ). Hence, if you first learn the notes of The Mighty D on the 4 th string and see the same-notes-an-octave-higher relationships to the notes on the 1 st and 5 th string, you are 3/5 ths of the way there to learning all the notes on the banjo in G tuning. All you have to do is figure out the notes on the 3 rd and 2 nd strings. And the best way to do this is to figure out the notes from chord positions you already are using up the neck. Hope this helps. Nobody said it was going to be easy. However, with concentration and practice over time, you should reach a point where you are reading music just like you now read tablature. And then you can start innovating by playing a combination of melody notes and chords. Good luck starting to read Standard Music Notation.

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