Posts Tagged ‘beats’
Key Signature
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
A Key signature is shown to the right of the clef symbol and will show a series sharp symbols or flat symbols which can be interpreted to deduce which key the piece is written in.
The Key of a piece means that when playing a piece of music, certain notes may be sharpened or flattened by the pieces key signature unless overridden by a natural symbol or an extra sharp/flat symbol. Therefore, on a Key Signature such as D Major, where the sharps are F# and C# each C note you see on the notation is played as C# and not C natural.
The word / term Sharp means to increase the pitch of a note by a semi-tone.
The word / term Flat or Flatten means to decrease the pitch of a note by a semi-tone.
The Table Below outlines the various Key Signatures you may encounter. There are many others but these are simply the basic or most common key signatures.
| Common Key Signatures | ||
| Key | Description | Key Signature |
| C Major | No Flats |  |
| D Major | Two Sharps |  |
| E Major | Four Sharps |  |
| F Major | One Flat |  |
| G Major | One Sharp |  |
| A Major | Three Sharps |  |
| B Flat Major | Two Flats |  |
| B Major | Five Sharps |  |
Time Signatures
A Time Signature indicates how many beats there are in each bar and which note is to be used as a beat. This basic introduction to time signatures will assume that the crotchet is to be used as the one beat measure – therefore all times will be something:4 time. Certain time signatures lend themselves to certain styles of songs, e.g. most waltzes are written in 3:4 time, and the majority of rock songs would be based around 4:4 time.
| Time Signatures | Symbol | |
| 4:4 Time |  |
|
| 3:4 Time |  |
|
| 6:4 Time |  |
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Read Sheet Music
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Learning to read sheet music can seem daunting to some people, especially those with no prior musical background. Sheet music contains its own little language documented on paper. The key is to find a way to crack the code, read music, and be able to play or sing on the pitch of each note.
If you want to learn how to read music, then you have come to the right place. The following article contains a guide that will teach you how to read sheet music as well as lists resources you can use to learn more about music, in general.
The structure of sheet music. Sheet music is set up with a specific structure. The staff of the sheet music is made up of everything you will need to be able to read music. Depending on a variety of factors, the staff will tell you exactly what notes you will need to play. The first thing you need to do is be able to identify the staff.
- What is the staff? The staff is a set of five lines and four spaces. Each space and line has the name of a note. On the staff, you will find notes, a time signature, a clef sign, a key signature, and various markings that will affect the tempo and pitch of each note. All of these things work together to create the music that is played or sung.
- What are clefs and why do we use them? Based on what instrument you play – piano, guitar (acounstic or bass), violin, trombone, you name it – or what voice you sing (tenor, bass, alto, soprano, etc.) your music will be written in one of two clefs (treble clef & bass clef). These clefs are used to let you know what octave you are playing the notes in, as well as what notes will be played.
- The treble clef - The treble clef is used for most musical voices including soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, and tenor. It is also used for the higher pitched instruments such as the alto clarinet, the B-Flat clarinet, the flute, oboe, violin and trumpet. The treble clef can be memorized by the following acronyms. Lines – Every Good Boy Does Fine
Spaces – F A C E
- The bass clef - The bass clef is used for the bass and baritone voices and lower instruments such as the tuba, trombone, and sousaphone. The bass clef was created because the notes for these lower instruments would be so low beneath the Treble Clef staff it would be very hard to write music that was easy for players to read. The bass clef notes can be memorized by:
Lines -Good Boys Do Fine Always
Spaces – All Cows Eat Grass
- The treble clef - The treble clef is used for most musical voices including soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, and tenor. It is also used for the higher pitched instruments such as the alto clarinet, the B-Flat clarinet, the flute, oboe, violin and trumpet. The treble clef can be memorized by the following acronyms. Lines – Every Good Boy Does Fine
- The key signature: Some notes are flat, some are natural, and some are sharp. Which notes are sharp, flat, or natural will be marked either next to individual notes if they are played as such one or two times through a piece or in something called the key signature if they are played as such throughout the entire piece. The key signature is located directly to the right of the clef sign. Which notes are sharp or flat depend on scales and keys.The time signature: Near the beginning of the staff, there is a symbol marking, or a fraction. This tells how many notes per measure will be played. The staff is split up into measures. Each measure is separated by a vertical line. The standard key signature is 4/4 time. It is usually denoted by a large black C.
Other common time signatures are 2/2 time (cut time), 2/4 time, 3/4 time, and 6/8 time. The time signature is written after the key signature, but before any notes on the staff.
2.
- Notes, notes, and more notes. The fundamental structure of each pitch is denoted by a music note. There are plenty of things you need to know about a note before you can play or sing music. The most common things you will need to know is how long to hold each note, whether the note is sharp, natural, or flat, and what the name of each note is so it can be played.
- Name that note: Notes have a letter name from A-G. Once a note gets to G, it starts over again at A. Notes from A to A, B to B, C to C, and so on denote one whole octave. Octaves can move up or down, and the standard singer has between two and four octaves their voice can sing comfortably.
- Hold the note as long as you can! It would be difficult for an orchestra to make music together if they did not know how long to hold each note. Each instrument would go off on their own beat or melody, and nothing would come together properly. This is why it is so important you know what each note looks like and how long you are supposed to hold the note based on how they look. Whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes are common in sheet music. There are other types of notes though these are less common. The notes work together with the time signature to determine how many beats per measure should be held. The standard hold for each note is written with the time signature of 4/4 in mind. However, as time signatures change, how long you hold the note will change, as well.
- All those funny symbols. There are many different symbols throughout sheet music. Every symbol is important. Based on what symbol you are looking at you may need to play notes or the musical piece in general faster or slower, bars should be repeated, notes should be held, or the music should get louder or quieter.
- Tempo changes. The changes in tempo are denoted by a symbol for an Italian word
- Volume changes. Changes in volume help to improve the mood of the piece. Not every piece of music is sung or played as loud as the person can sing. Changes in volume help to make the music more enjoyable and dramatic so works are not stagnant in tone. Here is a list of the following volume
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Techniques and Strategies for Practicing Piano
Saturday, September 19th, 2009
Different amounts of practice time are required to learn piano at various ages and levels. Recommendations also depend on the student’s ambition and repertoire.
Inadequate practice is the number one complaint piano teachers (and other music teachers) have about students. Without practice, frustration mounts as students simply don’t progress in their piano lessons. Arguments about and resistance to practice is one of the main reasons children stop music lessons.
Each instrument has different practice requirements because of the physical demands of playing it. Practice recommendations also depend on age, level, and ambition. The following recommendations are for students learning to play piano.
How Much Should a Child Practice Piano?
Many piano teachers suggest that the student’s lesson length be a preliminary rule of thumb for a daily practice goal. For example, a common recommendation is that a piano student taking half-hour lessons should practice half an hour a day; a student taking hour lessons should practice an hour a day.
This rule of thumb is most appropriate for the earlier levels. At more advanced levels, piano practice requirements can be much higher, depending on the student’s ambitions. For instance, an advanced high school student who intends to major in music at the college level might take an hour lesson a week, but may well practice two or three hours a day, or even more, depending on the level of commitment and the school to which the student is applying.
But these students are exceptional, and well into the self-motivated stage. For average students, matching the lesson time five days a week will give consistent and rewarding progress.
Every pianist, indeed, every musician, develops a series of possible practice strategies to deal with different types of mistakes and to learn difficult passages so they can be brought up to speed and played fluently.
Whether just beginning to learn to play the piano or an accomplished virtuoso, pianists should look at these strategies as part of their “toolbox.” If one doesn’t work, try another. Experience tells pianists which strategies are best for which problems, but quite frequently, a pianist will try a number of practice techniques to master a particularly stubborn passage.
Mechanical Strategies for Piano Practice
Mechanical strategies are those that teach the players’ hands where to go. They deal with issues such as finding the right notes, using the right fingers, and coordinating the hands. these strategies help develop piano technique.
- Play with hands apart. Practice one hand at a time if it makes musical sense to do so. Then play with hands together.
- Play in small sections: Practice the piece in small bits, one phrase at a time. Phrases are the equivalent of sentences in the grammar of music. They are sometimes less than a line of music long, and sometimes more, just like a sentence on this page is sometimes shorter than a line, and sometimes longer. Practicing in phrases makes more musical sense than practicing by the line.
- Combine all the elements in small phrases: Practice each phrase by playing one hand, then the other, then both together.
- Study the fingering. Fingering choices should always be deliberate and intentional. Pianists must remember that good fingering involves not only getting to the note in question, but getting to the next note, and the next after that. Issues of how to tackle a series of similar motifs that start on different notes also come into play, as well as issues of musicality, which can justify fingerings that at first may look awkward. Students who have not yet mastered fingering techniques should run any changes past a teacher.
- Break the music into even smaller chunks: Music can always be broken down into its component parts. If the phrase is too long, break it into two. Or practice a single measure. Identify the weak spots where mistakes are habitual, and practically those spots until the mistakes are eradicated.
Remember, piano mistakes don’t go away by starting at the beginning and trying again!
Rhythmic Strategies for Piano Practice
Rhythmic practice techniques force the player to do all the tasks in strict time, which raises the difficulty, and also makes it very obvious which parts of the piece need more work.
- Use the metronome: At its most basic, the metronome helps pianists keep a steady tempo. Metronomes can also be used to help a student work out technical elements by forcing the pianist to play in time and gradually raising the tempo. Playing with a metronome reveals any weak spots in the piece. Metronome practice is especially valuable for ensemble players.
- Vary the rhythm: An effective way to smooth out bumps in long technical runs of very fast notes is change the rhythm. For example, a stream of 16th notes cold be played as alternating dotted 16th and 32nd notes, and then the player can try the reverse and play the section as 32nd notes followed by dotted-16th notes.
- Addi beats. A difficult series of chords can be practiced by by inserting one or more beats of rests in between them, then gradually, getting rid of the extra beats.
- Change the tempo: Playing very slowly and very fast are also good practice techniques. Playing one hand much faster than the target tempo secures the muscle memory of the passages, which makes the piece easier to play with two hands. Playing slowly helps pianists make fingering and articulation choices that are conscious and deliberate.
Finally, if mistakes persist, change the practice strategy! The worst thing is to keep doing the same thing and making the same mistake. Try to go about the problem in a different way.
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