Gr. 1 Theory of Music - Writing and Understanding Notes and Clefs

1. Grade 1 Theory of Music Trinity Intro Class 1: Hi, everyone. Welcome to grade one Theory of music in the Trinity syllabus. In this first class, I will be teaching the stave, writing high and low notes on the stave, the treble and bass clefs and the note middle C. This will also be an introduction to grade one notes in the treble and bass clef. 2. Gr. 1 Theory of Music - The Stave - Lesson 1: So let's start off with the stave. Now, the stave is here, this picture. It has five lines and four spaces. So it has five lines and four spaces. Now, the other name for the stave is also called staff. It doesn't matter which word you use, both are correct. Now let's count from the bottom. This is the first line, the second line. The third line, the fourth line, and the fifth line. This is the first space, the second space, the third space, and the fourth space. Now, as you've seen, I've counted from the bottom, and I've made a note here as well that it is so important to always count from the bottom. Later in the exercises, you will see why it is important to count from the bottom. So please take note that this, for example, is the first line, and that is not the first line. While the third line will stay the third line because it's in the middle. But for the rest, it will definitely make a difference whether you count from the bottom or from the top, and we always count from the bottom. We count the lines and the spaces from the bottom. Now, here they are showing notes that are on the lines. Here they are showing notes that's in between the spaces. And these we call line notes, and these are space nodes. Now, a node doesn't look like just this little dot. It has a little stem width. You will see that a bit later here. We will look at how to draw the stems. But for now, it's just to write the notehead neatly over the line or neatly in between the lines. Now, with regards to what I just said, remember to always make sure when you do the notehead that the line goes nicely basically in the middle of that note. And here nicely in between the lines. I go in the space notes, for example, it shouldn't go a little bit over a line because then it looks like a line note. This one shouldn't go too much into this space, then it would look like a space node. That's what these exercises are here for to practice to exercise how to draw the line notes, the line note heads, the space note heads. In the first exercise, you will be drawing on every line noted. As they say leave gaps in between these are the gaps in between each note, it doesn't look so close to each other. Remember, we want to have our work to be neat and tidy and you can read it properly. That is what it's about. Later in the very much higher grades, you will start learning how to compose music, et cetera and then you have to know these basics to draw the notes nicely evenly spaced from each other. The second exercise, they say write a noted in every space. Here you will have five note heads because the stave has five lines and here you will have four note heads because there's only four spaces. Then in exercise three, they say write three note heads on the third line up from the bottom. This is the third line. Then write three node heads in the first space. This is the first space here. That's the first space. I just want to do that. This is the first space. Now, with regards to this, There we go. This is the first space. Now, with regards to this, let me go to this block again. Always count from the bottom. Just imagine you counted from the top, you would think that was the first space here and it's not. That is not the first space, this is. So the question says, write three noteheads in the first space. Then exercise four, write a notehead on every line and every space. So it's going to be a mix of these. Still, you have to leave nicely, evenly spaced gaps between the noteheads like here. And handicap. No it's oval, not round in shape. This is true, yes, but it is sometimes difficult to get it precisely in an oval shape. So if it looks a little bit rounder, then it is also fine. That is not too much of a train smash. 3. Gr. 1 Theory of Music - Writing High and Low Notes - Lesson 2: Now we will be looking at writing high and low notes. In this block, you will see the example of high notes and of low notes and of a note in the middle. Previously, I explained the note heads, how to write it on the line, how to write it nicely. In between the lines, we were talking about the stay as five lines four spaces, we always count from the bottom. Now here, what comes width is just the stem. Just like here, how to write the note heads, here we are going to look at how to write, how to draw the note as a whole. In other words, the note with the stem. As I said, this line here is the stem. Now the high nodes you can see the stem goes left side down, and it's not going up like here. And the low nodes, the stem goes right side up and not down. In the middle, the nodes, this one goes left side down, that one goes right side up, it doesn't matter when it's in the middle on the third line. It doesn't matter you can do the same down or you can do it up, it doesn't matter. But there's an important thing to remember that even though with the high nodes, it goes down, it should go left side down. With the low nodes, it must go specifically right side up and not left side up, not right side down. In the middle yet again, it doesn't matter. I can go down or up, but yet again, left side down, right side up. Now, this is a little trick. It's just to remember how the notes must look and always remember this, I am going to write it here. Notes may never look like the number nine or six. For example, if I draw this note with the stem going right side down, so imagine this was not there. It looks like a nine. And then I know my stem, it is down. It is going down, yes, but then I know it's on the wrong side. It should be on the left side. If I draw my note here as this, and let's imagine that was not there. It looks like a six. If you can see that. I almost looks like a six. Let me do this one as well. I just made it a little bit of a curve. Don't do that with the stem. I just did that so you can see it looks like a six. Then I know my stem is the wrong way. It should be right side up, not left side up. The same counts for these notes. Now in this first exercise, they say, add a stem to each node head, place each one carefully and keep the length of the SEMs the same as shown in the examples above. Here it goes about over one, two, three lines, so you can do the same here, just about over three lines. Remember these are high notes. High notes, the stem goes left side down. These are low notes. You have to add a stem here as well. These are right side up. Now, before I go to exercise three and four, there's also something I always tell the students that in the high nodes, think of it as vice versa. High notes on top, stem down. Note head above, stem down. Note head below, stem up. Up with the notads down with the stem, down with the notads up with the stem. But this trick helps you to remember which side left or right. The stem must go by the high notes and by the low. Now by exercise three, they say write five high notes and five low notes using note heads and stems. It's basically a mix of the first and second exercise. Then here's also a mix, add a stem to each node head. Here you have to draw it from scratch. You just add a stem. Yet again, be very careful where the node is high on the stave and where it is low. As you can see, this one is in the middle. Quickly, a digno box. So note heads are solid black and some are not. Now with regards to this digno Box, as you can see, these are not solid colored in, but these are, and it is perfectly correct because that has to do with our note values which we will look at a bit later. But for now, it is just to draw the stem, correct the correct side, the correct way, and how to draw it from scratch in this exercise. 4. Extra video lesson Treble and Bass Clef: Okay, I just want to quickly explain with regard to the previous video about the treble and the base glyph, I just quickly want to explain the difference between them. Remember a clef quickly, there are a lot of claves. You get the to clef, you get the tenoclep but we're not going to focus on that now. Just for interesting matter, you do get a lot of claves a clef determines the pitch of a note on the stave. But here we're only going to focus on the treble clef and the base clap. So as you can see, this note is drawn on the fourth line. This one is also drawn on the fourth line. But since the treble clef here is in front, this sound is going to be different than this sound since the base glyph is in front of the note here. This one here, treble clef, the note, sounds like this. And the bass clef also on the fourth line sounds like this. So as you can hear, apart from the fact that this is higher and this is lower, there's definitely a difference between them with regards to sound. Same here. This is in the third space. This is in the third space. Third line, third line, second space, second space. It's just to show a few. Now, if I play this one, remember it's in the same space as this one. But it's going to sound different because the treble clef is in front. So this one sounds like this. And that one sounds different. Let's go to the third line. And the third line in the base clefh and then the second space in the treble clef and the second space in the base clefh. Now you can see what role the clef plays with regards to the notes on the staff. 5. Gr. 1 Theory of Music - Treble and Bass Clef - Lesson 3: All right, so now we are going to look at the treble and the base glyphs. So just to recap of the previous part, these are the line notes and space nodes or note heads. These are the notes as a total. In other words, the noted whiff stem that actually makes it a node and writing them high, writing them low, writing in the middle, and just how to draw the noted when it's on a line and in a space. Now we're going to look at the treble and base clef. The treble clef is also the right hand clef and also the G glefh. This clef has three names, the treble clef, the G clef, or the right hand clef. Now there's a reason why this is also called the G clef. As you can see, this line here, remember the second line when we think about the stave that has the five lines and four spaces, we count from the bottom. This second line is G in the right hand. There's a little curl around this line. Now when we draw it here, we're going to start on the line, but printed, it looks like this, that little curl around that G line. Like I said, when we write it, we're going to start on it when we draw it, and then we draw the treble clef. But the point here is now we're going to start on this G line and that is why it's also called the G clef because of the fact that when we draw it, we're starting on that line. Now, I'm just going to read here to show exactly which high or low sound to be played, each sound has a name. Each line basically has a name, each space has a name. The letters used to name nodes are ABCDEFG. They repeat themselves over and over again. Those are called octaves. We will look at that a bit later. Now, a treble clef or G clef is used for high nodes. The little curved line in the middle of the clef curls around the second line where the node G sits. Now, when they say it's used for high notes, in the case of piano, it's where you play a bit higher on the piano. That's what this glyph is for to put the notes on the stave for the higher notes, more up in the piano. I am going to do an extra video explaining the treble and the bass glyph notes. Nicely and properly to see and then you can also hear why it's used for the high notes and why the left and it's used for the lower notes. As you see here, a base gleph or the left hand cleph is used for lower notes because base, it sounds low. Now back to the treble clef or G clef or right hand clef. In exercise one, you have to write over these dotted lines to make them treble clef. In other words, just draw starting on this line and just practice how to draw it. Here are five of them. Exercise two, you're going to do it without the dots. You are going to do it from scratch, if I can put it like that because here the dots help you to draw. So I'm just going to quickly put here they say here G clef, treble clef, and we play with our right hand when we see this clef. Now, this is the left hand clef or the F glyph or the base clefh. Left Clif, when we see this clef, we have to play with our left hand and it's for the lower nodes. Now, just like here, where the call goes around that G line which makes it a G clef, here we start on the F line, just like when we start on the G line here. This is the F line in the base glyph. So we start on that one, as you can see in exercise three, we start on that line and then we make a backward C or some have said previously a half of a heart, however you want to remember it, it goes to the right side. These dots are over this F line as well, and that is why this is called the F clef. As they say here, the little dots go on either side of the line where the F sits. This is just why it's called the G clef, why this is called the F clef. Like an exercise one here. Exercise three, you have to write over the dots to practice how to draw the base clef. Then in exercise four, you are going to draw it from scratch on your own without the dots. In the next video, I will have that extra video, which is the material is not within this book. I will just do an extra video showing and playing some sounds to understand a bit more of the treble clef and the base clef and why we have the two clefs, why the names differ. For example, here, this is a F line, but in your right hand, this fourth line here in your right hand would not be a F. That would be a D. Here, the fourth line is a F, but here it would be a D, not a F. That is what I will be explaining in the next video. 6. Gr. 1 Theory of Music - Middle C - Lesson 4: The next topic is middle C, and this is now where we are going to start looking at node names. It's like a introduction, the beginning, the starting point of node names. But I mean by node names are these, the grade one nodes. These are node names. That's a B, C, D, E, FG, et cetera. And then we also get node enames in the left and in the base glyph. So base clef and treble clef notes, but we are not going to focus so much on this now. We're just going to first look at the node middle C. Middle C is exactly what the word says, middle C. So in most of the keyboards or pianos, middle C is in the middle of the piano or the keyboard. Why I say usually is because sometimes you get a full key piano and a full key keyboard is 88 keys. You don't get bigger than that. And the other pianos and keyboards she gets a 72 key, a 66 key, sometimes a bit, even smaller 48 key, and then middle C will move a bit down usually. Then it's not really in the middle anymore. In a full key, 88 key, piano and keyboard, it is in the middle. With smaller keyboards and pianos, it moves a bit down. Then middle C, looks as if it's more to the left side after piano and the keyboard. It can't stay in the middle when the keyboard or piano is a bit smaller because remember the pitch must sound the same. The middle C, you play on a 48 key on a 66 key, on a 76 key, on a 88 key, that middle C must sound the same the whole time. So that is the note middle C. So they say middle C is not like any other key. It has the word middle in front of it because it is in the middle of most keyboard instruments or pianos. In both the treble and the bass clef, middle C sits on a leisure line. Leisure line. Now, a leisure line is this little line going through. It's the little line going through. Remember, these lines are not we can't say they are legure lines, not at all. This is part of the stave and this is part of the staff. The moment your node goes outside of this stave like here, whether it's below the stave or above the stave, the moment it goes outside of the stave, we start using lager lines, and you'll see later there's also something called a leger space. So just like your note would be in a space, let's say it's outside maybe sitting on the line, then that is a leger space. But for here, we're looking at the laser line. In the treble clef, middle C is written like this, very important. Middle C is below the staf in the right hand and middle C is above the staf in the left and. This is very important. It can happen that you can get confused thinking or forgetting that middle C is above the staf in the base clef and below the staf in the treble clef. This is very important. Both notes mean middle C and they sound the same. When you're going to play this, even with your right hand on the piano, it's going to sound the same. When you're going to play this with your left hand on the piano, it's going to sound the same. It looks different in theory, but it's exactly the same in practical. If middle C appears in the treble clave in music for keyboard, the player use it with the right hand, just like I said now and basically with the left hand. Now, the thing is one must be careful not to get lazy if I can put it like that. Not to think that let's say if there's a middle C in the left and a middle C in the right, there's a song, for example, with a middle C in the right end in the left to just play with both middle Cs with right hand or both of left hand. Don't get into that habit. It's not a good habit. You still have to keep on playing it right hand, middle C, left hand middle C, even though it's the same note. It's to get your eye to practice and get used to reading right hand notes and with what hand and where to play with your right hand, and when and where to play with your left hand. That is what it's about. Now, before I go to the exercises, this handip box is so important. They say leisure lines are written the same distance away from the staf as the stave lines. So this is a correct example. Remember, a lesure line is just that extra line going on, the extra line going on. And instead of having a six line because it's going to be too many lines, we just do a little leisure line. And therefore, the spaces in between here in between these lines must be the same as here. You really don't have to go with a ruler and measure it out just more or less the same distance. Whereas here, it's too far from this line. That's way too far. Now in exercise one, they say, write three middle C nodes in the treble clave this is the first one. You can draw two more. Or if you like, you can even go and draw three. It doesn't matter how many. This is just to it's just practicing how to draw the middle C node, especially with that line through and having the spaces correctly in between the lines. The same with the left hand, the base clef also three middle C. This is the first one. You can count it as the first one, or you can go and literally draw another three, which at the end is four, it does not matter. Like I said, here it's about practicing how to draw middle C note in the treble clip, and then the base cap. Remember, stem up, stem down, right side up, left side down. Then in exercise three, they say, write a treble or base clef in front of these notes to make it Middle C. In other words, the moment I put a base clef here, it's going to make this middle C. If I went and put a treble clef here, that would be wrong because in the treble clave, middle C is not above the stave. It's in the left and where middle C is above the stave. So I'm just going to give this one's answer. This is treble clef. You're going to draw a treble clef here because middle C is below the stave in the triple clave. The same with this one, same with that one. You have to put in the correct clef to make this one middle C and to make that one middle C. 7. Gr. 1 Theory of Music - Introduction to Note Names - Lesson 5: Grade one notes is now where we're going to start learning reading note and reading the note names. And after you've learned this, after you've understand this or do understand it, then you'll be able to start reading music, but still on a grade one level. You'll be able to, for example, read grade one exam songs or just basic songs with these notes in the songs. Why I say these notes specifically. Is because lower than this B, you get notes as well. Higher than this B, you also get notes, but that's for a later grade, that is for grade two, and then you go on grade three, grade four, et cetera. But here, we're just going to look at these notes from this B up until that B. In the previous video, remember middle C has a lesure line. Now, this is a leisure line node then. It's a leisure line. This node is in a lego space. Even though there's a little line there, we say this node is in a lego space because the line is not going through the node. That node is below the line, the same here. This is a legio space. This is also seen as a ledger space because it's outside of the stave as mentioned in the previous video, and this is a Leger space. It's outside of the stave. Leger space, a Leger line, Leger space, yes. So with regards to note names, there are sentences. For example, here, it says, every green bar drives fast, sometimes a word like here. This is to help you remember where should which note be positioned? However, it is important to remember that we get a sentence to remember for the right hand, for the treble clef notes, and another sentence to remember. I see they didn't put it in here, but when we get to this, I'll give the rhyme or the sentence, specifically for the line notes in the base clef. One of the sentences is, for example, good boys do fine always. It's important to remember that sentence in this case for the left end and not here. Because that's a E at the bottom in the right hand and not a G. This is a G at the bottom and not a E. This one is good boys do fine always. For the line notes in the left hand, Line notes in the right hand, every good boy does fine is one of them, or every green bus drive fast. You can even make up your own sentence. It's not a compulsory to know exactly this sentence. Then for the right hand, it's face for the space notes. FAC E. For the space notes, it's face. For the base glyph space notes, all cows eat grass. So like I said, it's just to help you remember where should which note be positioned on the staf? Now, as I said previously, this is just the introduction to the grade one notes. In the next video, I will go into detail with regards to the notes, explaining everything in detail, go through what you have to do in the exercises, and then after that, we will be looking at a new topic, note values.