Music Theory for Dummies

Rhythm

A pattern of regular or irregular pulses in music.

Double-Dotted Note

2 dots placed after a note or rest extends its value by three quarters. Rarely seen in modern music today.

Rest

A symbol used to notate a period of silence.

Note

A symbol used to represent the duration of a sound and, when placed on a music staff, the pitch of the sound.

Demisemiquaver Note

A thirty-second as long as whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/8 of a beat.

Thirty-second Note

A thirty-second as long as whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/8 of a beat.

Thirty-second Rest

A thirty-second as long as whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/8 of a beat.

Simple Time

A time signature in which the accented beats of each measure are divisible by two, as in 4/4 time.

Compound Time

A meter whose beat count

Time Signature

A notation made at the beginning of a piece of music, in the form of two numbers such as 3/4, that indicates the number of beats in each measure of bar and shows which note value constitutes one beat. The top (or first) number tells how many beats are in a measure, and the bottom (or second) number tells which kind of note receives the count of one beat.

Dotted Note

A note followed by an augmentation dot means the note is worth one and half times its normal value.

Eighth Note

An eighth as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/2 a beat long.

Eighth Rest

An eighth as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/2 a beat long.

Quaver Note

An eighth as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/2 a beat long.

Quaver Rest

An eighth as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/2 a beat long.

Rhythm Sticks

Fat, cylindrical hard wood instruments used to practice picking up beats in music.

Staff

Five horizontal, parallel lines, containing four spaces between them, on which notes and rests are written.

Beam

A bar used to connect shorter notes with flags

Tie

A curved line that connects notes of the same pitch together to increase the length of the pitch.

Augmentation Dot

A dot placed after a note or rest that extends its value by half of the original value.

Crotchet Note

A quarter as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1 beat long.

Crotchet Rest

A quarter as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1 beat long.

Quarter Note

A quarter as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1 beat long.

Quarter Rest

A quarter as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1 beat long.

Measure

A segment of written music, contained within two vertical bars, that includes as many beats as the top number of the key signature indicates. A measure is also called a bar.

Semiquaver Note

A sixteenth as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/4 of a beat long.

Semiquaver Rest

A sixteenth as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/4 of a beat long.

Sixteenth Note

A sixteenth as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/4 of a beat long.

Sixteenth Rest

A sixteenth as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 1/4 of a beat long.

Half Note

Half as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 2 beats long.

Half Rest

Half as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 2 beats long.

Minum Note

Half as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 2 beats long.

Minum Rest

Half as long as a whole note. In 4/4 time, lasts 2 beats long.

Note Value

Indicated by the size and shape, it determines how long a specific pitch should by held by the voice or an instrument.

Breve Note

Lasts 8 beats long. Generally used in slow-moving processional music or in medieval music.

Breve Rest

Lasts 8 beats long. Generally used in slow-moving processional music or in medieval music.

Double Whole Note

Lasts 8 beats long. Generally used in slow-moving processional music or in medieval music.

Double Whole Rest

Lasts 8 beats long. Generally used in slow-moving processional music or in medieval music.

Semibreve Note

Lasts the longes of all the notes. In 4/4 time, it lasts for an entire 4 beats.

Semibreve Rest

Lasts the longes of all the notes. In 4/4 time, it lasts for an entire 4 beats.

Whole Note

Lasts the longes of all the notes. In 4/4 time, it lasts for an entire 4 beats.

Whole Rest

Lasts the longes of all the notes. In 4/4 time, it lasts for an entire 4 beats.

Beat

One of a series of repeating, consistent pulsations of time in music. Each pulsation is also called a beat

Pitch

The highness or lowness of a tone produced by a single frequency.

Flag

The little line that comes off the top or the bottom of the note stem. Notes shorter than quarter notes have flags.

Tempo

The rate or speed of the beat in a piece of music.

Head

The round part of a note. Every note has one.

Stem

The vertical line attached to the note head. All notes except for the whole note have one.