Pitch Lesson 1 : Stff n this lesson you will lern bout the five-line stff, pitches nd notes, noteheds, scending nd descending motion, steps nd leps, ledger lines. Music is written on five-line stff: five prllel lines seprted by four spces. Fhe-line stff Fifth line Fourth line~ ------------ /Fourth spce Third line -- --Third spce _...--; ~Second spce Second line/..._ First spce First line A pitch is musicl sound t some prticulr point long the continuum from the lowest to the highest udible sound. A pitch is written s note plced either on line or in spce on the five-line stff. A notehed, which specifies where on the stff note is to occur, is n ovl shpe tht my be either open or filled in. oteheds Open noteheds Filled-in noteheds on line in spce on line in spce (;; (;;.. Use the stves tht follow to prctice writing noteheds. They should be ovl (not round) in shpe, nd tilted to the right. Noteheds in spce should just touch the lines bove nd below; noteheds on line should fill hlf the spces bove nd below. ' Too smll Too big Wrong shpe Just right s (;; ' Write fifteen filled-in noteheds on the lines nd spces of this stff \\'riling noteheds Write fifteen open noteheds on the lines nd spces of this stff To move from note to higher-sounding note, you scend on the stff. To move from note to lower-sounding note, you descend.
2 Chpter 1: Pitch Ascending Ascending nd descending Descending G G O o ~ There re two kinds of melodic motion: by step nd by lep (lso sometimes clled skip). A step involves motion from line up or down to n djcent spce, or from spce up or down to n djcent line. A lep is ny motion bigger thn step. nd leps my be either scending or descending. OG G nd leps o G Leps olgg For notes tht lie bove or below the stff, the stff my be temporrily extended by ledger lines. These lines function nd re spced just like the lines of the stff, but begin just before n individul notehed nd end just fter it. Ledp:er lines Notes bove the stff...... A.. A.. Notes below the stff...... 77 77 Use the stff below to prctice writing noteheds with ledger lines. Notes in the spces bove the stff need ledger lines below (not bove) them; notes in the spces below the stff need ledger lines bove (not below) them. Writing ledger lines Should be bove, not below ncorrect ledger lines Should be Too long below, not bove 7Z? ---9--- Use ledger lines to write notes bove the stff Just right A.. ~... Use ledger lines to write notes below the stff Lesson 1: n-clss ctivities 1. Singing. The instructor will ply or sing note. Sing the note you her. 2. Dict,,tion. The instructor will ply two notes in succession. dentify the melodic motion s scending or descending, step or lep. Sing the notes. 3. Diet.mn The instructor will ply three notes in succession. dentify the melodic motion s: () low-middle-high; (b) low-high-middle; (c) middlelow-high; (d) middle-high-low; (e) high-low-middle; (f) high-middle-low. Sing the notes.
Chpter 1: Pitch 5 Lesson 2: Keybord n this lesson you will lern bout the pino keybord, blck nd white keys, letter nmes for notes, steps nd leps, octves, pino fingering. n lerning bsic musicl concepts, it is often useful to refer to the pino keybord. The typicl pino keybord contins eighty-eight keys, some blck nd some white, ech producing different pitch. Moving towrd the right, the pitches get higher; moving towrd the left, the pitches get lower. lower higher Pino ke)bord 11 11 1111 111 1111 111 1111 111 1111 111 1111 111 1111 111 1111 1 We will focus for now just on the white keys. Ech white key is nmed with one of the first seven letters of the lphbet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. The symmetricl lyout of the blck keys (lternting groups of two nd three) provides ech of the seven different white keys with distinctive loction. C, for exmple, is lwys found just below the group of two blck keys. The C right in the middle of the keybord is known s middle C. Letter nmes AB c DE F G A B C D E F GA B C DE F G A B c D E F G A B c DE F G AB c t middlec DE F G AB c DE F G ABC Moving from ny white key to the djcent white key, up or down, is step. Ech step tkes you from one letter of the lphbet to the next. When you get up to G, you strt over gin on A. And, going the other direction, when you get down to A, you strt over gin on G. C D E F G A B C D E F G A B
6 Chpter 1: Pitch Most of the djcent white keys hve blck key between them (C-D, D-E, F-G, G-A, nd A-B). However there is no blck key between E nd For between B nd C. We thus hve two different sizes of step: the smller steps (where no blck key intervenes) re clled hlf steps nd the lrger steps (where there is blck key between two djcent white keys) re clled whole steps. Moving from ny white key to nondjcent white key is lep. f you strt on ny key nd lep up or down seven steps, you end up on nother key with the sme letter nme. Seven steps spn eight white keys nd comprise n octve. Pitches relted by one or more octves shre the sme nme becuse they sound so much like. Oct\'es n plying the pino, it is customry to refer to your fingers by number: the thumb is the first finger; the index finger is the second finger, nd so on. 3 3 4 5 Pino fingering \ ~ \ \ \.., Left hnd Right hnd Lesson 2: n-clss ctivities 1. Singing. The instructor will ply note. Sing the note you her, nd then the note n octve higher or lower, s requested. 2. Singing. The instructor will ply two white notes slowly in succession. Sing the notes, then identify them s n scending or descending step or lep. 3. Reciting. Recite the letter nmes of the notes, scending nd descending, s follows (working for speed nd ccurcy):. scending:a-b-c-d-e-f-g-a-b-c-d-e-f-g-a-b C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G b. descending: A-G-F-E-D-C-B-A-G-F-E-D-C-B-A-G F-E-D-C-B-A-G-F-E-D-C-B-A-G-F-E-D-C-B-A-G-F-E-D C-B-A-G-F-E-D-C-B-A-G-F-E-D-C-B
Chpter 1: Pitch 7 4. Dicttion. The instructor will ply two white notes slowly in succession. dentify the intervl s either n octve or not-n-octve. 5. Plying. The instructor will ply white note ner the middle of the keybord. Ply the note you her. 6. Plying. The instructor will cll out letter nme (A through G). Ply the requested note, then the note step bove or below, then the note n octve bove or below (s instructed-white notes only). 7. Plving. Using the thumb of your right hnd, ply ny white note. Then ply four scending steps (fingering: 1-2-3-4-5) nd return to the strting point (fingering: 5-4-3-2-1). Using the thumb of your left hnd, ply ny white note. Then ply four descending steps (fingering: 1-2-3-4-5) nd return to the strting point (fingering: 5-4-3-2-1). Sy the nmes of the notes s you ply. 8. Plying. Using either hnd, ply ny white note, then ply s follows: octve up, step down, octve down, step down, octve up, step down, nd so on. Use fingers 1 nd 5 only. Nme the notes s you ply. Then begin gin on ny note, now plying s follows: octve down, step up, octve up, step up, octve down, step up, nd so on. Agin, use fingers 1 nd 5 only nd nme the notes s you ply.