Music Theory Fundamentals

Bass Clef

F Clef

Treble Clef

G Clef

Grand Staff, Great Staff, Piano Staff

The treble clef and bass clef staff can be joined together by a brace to form one staff.

Notes

Music is written by placing different symbols on the lines and spaces on the staff.

Staff

Music is written on a staff which contains five lines and four spaces.

The Musical Alphabet

The Musical Alphabet consists of the first seven letter of the alphabet. The letters of the musical alphabet are used once then over again, always in that same order: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, like the numbers on a clock.

Clefs determine where the letter names are placed on the staff.

Three common clefs used in music are the: Treble Clef, Bass Clef, Alto Clef and Tenor Clef.

What happens when we run out of lines and spaces on the staff?

We add ledger lines to extend the range of the staff above or below.

Piano Keyboard

is made up of white keys called "naturals" and are named using the first seven letters of the musical alphabet. The black keys called "accidentals" and are arranged in groups of two or three. Pitch names for the piano keys can be figured out by knowing where the pitch "C" is. Any "C" can be found by finding the first white key immediately tot he left of the two black keys.