music basics

 

 

This part of the site is for beginners in music reading and is intended to give the user a fighting chance when confronted by a piece of music.

You can navigate around this area either by clicking on the piece of music below or by using the links underneath. The music is the beginning of the Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Fauré by the way.

A piece of music

Clefs - those curly things at the front of the staves (the lines)

Notes - length and pitch

Time Signatures - have you got good timing? Why is the conductor waving that stick at you?

Dynamics - Soft or loud?

Key Signatures, Sharps and Flats and Naturels - Get this right and look good!

Squggly Bits - These are all over the place - check out here what they all mean

Expressions - Feeling moody? These will tell you what mood to feel!

Tempo - Quick? Slow? Quick? Quick? Slow?

 

 

 

brackets and braces a treble clef a bass clef key signature key signature time signature time signature expression metronome mark expression expression a slur a dynamic (p = piano / softly) a triplet a minim rest a crotcet rest a semibreve a minim a minim a crotchet on top of a quaver a minim a minim a "natural" a quaver rest a quaver rest a stave (the lines) a stave (the lines) lots of quavers more quavers