Notation on Music Theory Print

Accidental (music)

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Standard use#

In most cases a sharp raises the pitch of a note one semitone while a flat lowers it one semitone. A natural is used to cancel the effect of a flat or sharp. This system of accidentals operates in conjunction with the key signature, whose effect continues throughout an entire piece, or until another key signature is indicated. An accidental can also be used to cancel a previous accidental or reinstate the flats or sharps of the key signature. Accidentals apply to subsequent notes on the same staff position for the remainder of the measure where they occur, unless explicitly changed by another accidental. Once a barline is passed, the effect of the accidental ends, except when a note affected by an accidental is tied to the same note across a barline. An accidental that carries past the barline through a tied note does not apply to subsequent notes. : \relative c \time 3/4 g4 gis gis g? ges ges~ ges gis g Under this system, the notes in the example above are: * 1: G, G, G (the sharp carries over) * m. 2: G (with courtesy accidental), G, G (the flat carries over) * m. 3: G (which is tied from the previous note), G, G (the natural sign cancels the sharp sign) Though this convention is still in use particularly in tonal music, it may be cumbersome in music that features frequent accidentals, as is often the case in atonal music. As a result, an alternative system of note-for-note accidentals has been adopted, with the aim of reducing the number of accidentals required to notate a bar. According to Kurt Stone, the system is as follows: # Accidentals affect only those notes which they immediately precede. # Accidentals are not repeated on tied notes unless the tie goes from line to line or page to page. # Accidentals are not repeated for repeated notes unless one or more different pitches (or rests) intervene. # If a sharp or flat pitch is followed directly by its natural form, a natural is used. # Courtesy accidentals or naturals (in parentheses) may be used to clarify ambiguities but are kept to a minimum Because seven of the twelve notes of the chromatic equal-tempered scale are naturals (the “white notes”; A, B, C, D, E, F and G on a piano keyboard) this system can significantly reduce the number of naturals required in a notated passage. Occasionally, an accidental may change the note by more than a semitone: for example, if a G is followed in the same measure by a G, the flat sign on the latter note means it is two semitones lower than if no accidental were present. Thus, the effect of the accidental must be understood in relation to the “natural” meaning of the note’s staff position. In some atonal scores (particularly by composers of the Second Viennese School), an accidental is notated on every note, including natural notes and repeated pitches. This system was adopted for “the specific intellectual reason that a note with an accidental was not simply an inflected version of a natural note but a pitch of equal status.”

Articulation (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Articulations#

There are many types of articulation, each with a different effect on how the note is played. In music notation articulation marks include the slur, phrase mark, staccato, staccatissimo, accent, sforzando, rinforzando, and legato. A different symbol, placed above or below the note (depending on its position on the staff), represents each articulation. The third movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral) exemplifies the effective use of contrast between staccato and legato within the same passage of music: Varying the articulation of a theme can play a role in musical development. For example, Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture opens with a phrase played legato: This idea later re-emerges played staccato as Mendelssohn develops it across the orchestral texture:

Clef

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Placement on the staff#

Theoretically, any clef may be placed on any line. With five lines on the staff and three clefs, there are fifteen possibilities for clef placement. Six of these are redundant because they result in an identical assignment of the notes—for example, a G-clef on the third line yields the same note placement as a C-clef on the bottom line. Thus there are nine possible distinct clefs when limiting their placement to the lines. All have been used historically: the G-clef on the two bottom lines, the F-clef on the three top lines, and the C-clef on the four bottom lines. The C-clef on the topmost line has also been used, but is equivalent to the F-clef on the third line, giving a total of ten historically attested clefs placed on the lines. In addition, the C-clef has been used on the third space, i.e. not on a line at all. This is equivalent to the more common suboctave treble clef. The ten clefs placed on lines (two are equivalent) have different names based on the tessitura for which they are best suited. In modern music, only four clefs are used regularly: treble clef, bass clef, alto clef, and tenor clef. Of these, the treble and bass clefs are by far the most common. The tenor clef is used for the upper register of several instruments that usually use bass clef (including cello, bassoon, and trombone), while the alto is most prominently used by the viola. Music for instruments and voices that transpose at the octave is generally written at the transposed pitch, but is sometimes seen written at concert pitch using an octave clef.

Dotted note

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notation#

If dotted note is on a space, the dot is placed in that space. If the note is on a line, the dot is placed in the space above. This principle also applies to notes on ledger lines. : \relative c \time 4/4 c4. d8 b8. a16 g4 The placement of dots need not follow this convention when space does not allow for it. For example, when dots apply to adjacent notes in a chord or notes in multiple voices. : 4. e8 4. b8 \stemUp d4. c8 b8. c16 d c8. \ \relative c s1 g4. a8 b8. a16 g a8. » Any note value can be dotted, as can rests of any value. If the rest is in its normal vertical position near the middle of the staff, dots are placed in the third staff space. Dotted rests are conventional in compound meters but can sometimes be used in simple meters as well. : \relative c \time 6/8 r2. r4. r8. r8. In Baroque music, dotted notation was sometimes used to indicate triplet rhythms when the context makes it obvious. Dots have been used across barlines, such as in H. C. Robbins Landon’s edition of Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 70 in D major, but this usage is obsolete—a tie across the barline is used instead.

Dynamics (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Purpose and interpretation#

Dynamics are one of the expressive elements of music. Used effectively, dynamics help musicians sustain variety and interest in a musical performance, and communicate a particular emotional state or feeling. Dynamic markings are always relative. (piano – “soft”) never indicates a precise level of loudness; it merely indicates that music in a passage so marked should be considerably quieter than (forte – “loud”). There are many factors affecting the interpretation of a dynamic marking. For instance, the middle of a musical phrase will normally be played louder than the beginning or end, to ensure the phrase is properly shaped, even where a passage is marked throughout. Similarly, in multi-part music, some voices will naturally be played louder than others, for instance, to emphasize the melody and the bass line, even if a whole passage is marked at one dynamic level. Some instruments are naturally louder than others – for instance, a tuba playing mezzo piano will likely be louder than a guitar playing forte, while a high-pitched instrument like the piccolo playing in its upper register can sound loud even when its actual decibel level is lower than that of other instruments.

Flat (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pitch change#

The symbol is a stylised lowercase b, derived from Italian be molle for “soft B” and German blatt for “planar, dull”. It indicates that the note to which it is applied is played one chromatic semitone lower. In the standard modern tuning system, 12-tone equal temperament, this corresponds to 100 cents. The difference in pitch indicated by a sharp or flat varies across different tuning systems. In tuning systems from the 16th and 17th century, and in modern microtonal tunings, the difference is normally smaller than a standard semitone. The change in pitch in the old quarter-comma meantone system would be 76.05 cents, in just intonation it would be 70.57 cents, and in Pythagorean tuning 113.7 cents. In well temperaments, the change in pitch indicated by a sharp or flat can vary. Intricate systems of microtuning may replace the standard flat or sharp with different symbols for raising and lowering pitch. In 53 equal temperament tuning sharps and flats have two or three different sub-levels, and notation for flattening notes varies, but usually involves several different symbols; one of the sets of flat symbols is (67.9 cents), (45.3 cents), and (22.6 cents), used both separately and in combinations.

Key signature

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Conventions#

The order in which sharps or flats appear in key signatures is illustrated in the diagram of the circle of fifths. Starting the major scale pattern (whole step, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half) on C requires no sharps or flats. Proceeding clockwise in the diagram starts the scale a fifth higher, on G. Starting on G requires one sharp, F, to form a major scale. Starting another fifth higher, on D, requires F and C. This pattern continues, raising the seventh scale degree of each successive key. As the scales become notated in flats, this is shown by eliminating one of the flats. This is strictly a function of notation—the seventh scale degree is still being raised by a semitone compared to the previous key in the sequence. Going counter-clockwise from C results in lowering the fourth scale degree with each successive key (starting on F requires a B to form a major scale). Each major key has a relative minor key that shares the same key signature. The relative minor is always a minor third lower than its relative major. The key signatures with seven flats and seven sharps are usually notated in their enharmonic equivalents. C major (seven sharps) is usually written as D major (five flats) and C major is usually written as B major. The key signature may be changed at any time in a piece by providing a new signature. If the new signature has no sharps or flats, a signature of naturals, as shown, is used to cancel the preceding signature. If a change in signature occurs at the start of a new line on the page, where a signature would normally appear, the new signature is customarily repeated at the end of the previous line to make the change more conspicuous.

Ledger line

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Musical notation

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Ancient Near East#

The earliest form of musical notation can be found in a cuneiform tablet that was created at Nippur, in Babylonia (today’s Iraq), in about 1400 BCE. The tablet represents fragmentary instructions for performing music, showing it was composed in harmonies of thirds using a diatonic scale. A tablet from about 1250 BCE shows a more developed form of notation. Although the interpretation of the notation system is still controversial, it is clear that the notation indicates the names of strings on a lyre, the tuning of which is described in other tablets. Research indicates these notations had dual purposes for liturgical and secular musical pieces since music was essential in both religious ceremonies and courtly activities. Although they are fragmentary, these tablets represent the earliest notated melodies found anywhere in the world.

Natural (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Usage#

Like all accidental markings, the natural symbol is written to the left of the note head and applies to subsequent notes of the same pitch through the remainder of the measure. : \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c b!1 A note marked with a natural sign can be changed to a flat or sharp by simply applying the new accidental. : \omit Score.TimeSignature \key c \major \time 4/4 b’!2 bes’ b’! bis’ A natural sign () cancels a flat or sharp from a previous note or key signature. : \omit Score.TimeSignature \key aes \major s8^"" \bar " " \key f \major s^"" : \omit Score.TimeSignature \key e \major s8^"" \bar " " \key g \major s^"" Sometimes these cancelling naturals at a key change are omitted, but they must be used if the new key has no sharps or flats. : \relative c’ \omit Score.TimeSignature \set Staff.printKeyCancellation = ##f \key aes \major s8^"" \bar " " \key f \major s^"" \bar " " \key e \major s^"" \bar " " \key c \major s^""

Rest (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

Rests are intervals of silence in pieces of music, marked by symbols indicating the length of the silence. Each rest symbol and name corresponds with a particular note value, indicating how long the silence should last, generally as a multiplier of a measure or whole note. * The quarter (crotchet) rest (𝄽) may take a different form in older music. * The four-measure rest or longa rest are only used in long silent passages which are not divided into bars. * The combination of rests used to mark a silence follows the same rules as for note values.

Sharp (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Examples#

The sharp symbol is used in key signatures or as an accidental applied to a single note. Below is a staff with a key signature containing three sharps (A major or F♯ minor) and a sharp symbol placed on the note, indicating that it is an A instead of an A. : \omit Score.TimeSignature \relative c \key a \major ais1 In twelve-tone equal temperament tuning (the predominant system of tuning in Western music), raising a note’s pitch by a semitone results in a note that is enharmonically equivalent to another named note. For example, E and F would be equivalent. This is not the case in most non-standard tuning systems.

Slur (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance#

Slurs mean different things for different instruments: *For bowed string instruments, the notes should be played in one bow stroke. * For plucked string instruments, such as guitars, the notes should be played without plucking the individual strings (hammer-ons and pull-offs). * For wind instruments, the notes should be played without re-articulating each note (tonguing), except for the slide trombone (and other instruments that control the pitch with a slide), on which only certain kinds of combinations can be played with no tongue without making a glissandothus “legato tonguing” is employed. * For vocal music, slurs are usually used to mark notes which are sung to a single syllable (melisma). A slur can be extended over many notes, sometimes encompassing several bars. In extreme cases, composers are known to write slurs which are near-impossible to achieve; in that case the composer wishes to emphasise that the notes should be performed with as much legato as possible.

Staff (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Staff positions#

When a staff is used for pitched instruments other than guitar tab, the vertical position of the notehead on the staff indicates which note to play: higher-pitched notes are marked higher on the staff. The notehead can be placed with its center intersecting a line (on a line) or in between the lines touching the lines above and below (in a space). Notes outside the range of the staff are placed on or between ledger lines—lines the width of the note they need to hold—added above or below the staff. Which staff positions represent which notes is determined by a clef placed at the beginning of the staff. The clef identifies a particular line as a specific note, and all other notes are determined relative to that line. For example, the treble clef puts the G above middle C on the second line. The interval between adjacent staff positions is one step in the diatonic scale. Once fixed by a clef, the notes represented by the positions on the staff can be modified by the key signature or accidentals on individual notes. A clefless staff may be used to represent a set of percussion sounds; each line typically represents a different instrument.

Tie (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Explanation#

A writer in 1901, said that the following definition is preferable to the previous: Other sources: Ties are normally placed opposite the stem direction of the notes, unless there are two or more voices simultaneously. The tie shown at the top right connects a quarter note (crotchet) to a sixteenth note (semiquaver), creating a note as long as a quarter note, or five times as long as a sixteenth note—there is no single note value to express this duration. However, in some cases one might tie two notes that could be written with a single note value, such as a quarter note tied to an eighth note (the same length as a dotted quarter). This might be because: *A barline is between the notes :: \relative c b1~ b *The second note begins a metric grouping, falling on a stressed beat of the meter. This change in notation (choosing the tie rather than the longer note value) does not affect performance, but it makes the music easier to read. Sometimes it can be used to make it clear that it has the appropriate rhythm. For example, a measure with three equal notes would have a quarter note on each side but two tied eighth notes in the middle; a measure with three equal notes would have all quarter notes. :: \relative c \time 6/8 b4 b8~ b b4 \time 3/4 b4 b b Several notes in succession can be tied together. Such a succession can also be part of a larger, slurred phrase, in which case, ties and slurs must be used simultaneously and distinguishably. When a chord is tied, a tie is drawn for every note in the chord. Where only some of the notes in a chord are to be held, a tie can be used on only the held notes (more commonly the held notes can be moved to a different voice; the second and third examples below are identical). :: \relative c \time 2/4 2~ \bar " " 4 \bar " " \new Voice \voiceTwo g2 »

Time signature

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Time signature notation#

Most time signatures consist of two numerals, one stacked above the other: * The lower numeral indicates the note value that the signature is counting. This number is always a power of 2 (unless the time signature is irrational), usually 2, 4 or 8, but less often 16 is also used, usually in Baroque music. 2 corresponds to the half note (minim), 4 to the quarter note (crotchet), 8 to the eighth note (quaver), 16 to the sixteenth note (semiquaver). * The upper numeral indicates how many such note values constitute a bar. For instance, means two quarter-notes (crotchets) per bar, while means four eighth-notes (quavers) per bar. The most common time signatures are , , and .