Music Notes: How Pitch & Duration Are Determined
Notes are the musical notation representing a fixed pitch. While the word strictly refers to the physical notation of a pitch, it’s more commonly used to refer to both the pitch and the notation.
Notes are named after the first seven letters in the alphabet — A, B, C, D, E, F, and G — and keep the same letter value as they are repeated up or down the keyboard or other musical instrument.
But since there are twelve notes in a diatonic scale, the seven notes can be altered. To get the extra five notes,we sharp notes(raise by a half-step) and flat notes (lower by a half-step); the sharped and flatted notes are the black keys on a piano. All notes
...don't have to start this way.Here's the point. This is the year 2006. We have Jazz and contemporary styles that go beyond the triad and begin with something called seventh chords.But how exactly do we play these? By using something ...
The types of notes and their values are based on the amount of time they take up in a song and are named in a hierarchy of values:
Breve
Minim
Crochet
Quaver
Demi-quaver
Demi-semi-quaver
Hemi-demi-semi-quaver
Whole notes (or breve notes) are four beats long (in common time, also known as 4/4 time), which is equal to one measure in 4/4 time. They are represented by a hollow, oval note with no stem.
Half notes (or minim notes) are half of
...a minimum of practice.Let's look at how we can use this chord structure to create music with. In the lesson "Reflections in Water" we have 4 chords to play. The chords are in the Key of C major, which means ...
Quarter notes (or crochet notes) represent a quarter of a whole note, or one beat in 4/4 time. They are the most recognizable note: a solid black note with a stem.
Eighth notes (or quaver notes) are one-eighth of a whole note and are written exactly like a quarter note, but with a flag attached to the stem. When more than one eighth note is placed side by side, a solid beam connects the adjacent notes.
Sixteenth notes (or demi-quaver notes) are one-sixteenth of a whole note and represented as an
...play button along with keyboard diagrams. Listen to the OPC and notice the sound. It's quite modern isn't it?Now take a look at the keyboard diagrams and familiarize yourself with this chord. Once you get a feel for this chord ...
Thirty-second (demi-semi-quaver) and sixty-fourth notes (hemi-demi-semi-quaver) represent the section of a whole note indicated by their names; they are drawn as eighth or sixteenth notes with an additional flags.
It’s also important to mention that the value of a note can be changed by adding a dot. Dotted notes represent the value of the original note, plus one half. For instance, dotted half notes are held for three beats, dotted quarter notes for a beat and one half, and so on.
In addition to musical notes, there are also musical rests which are signs of silence. They have the same time values as their corresponding notes, and when interspersed with notes of varying time
...in my right. But most times, I will let my intuition guide me and 9 times out of 10 begin at the middle of the keyboard.There is nothing wrong or uncreative about this at all. In fact, it doesn't really ...
All together, they spell music.
Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and music educational materials such as DVD’s, CD’s, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. A free lesson on music notes and music theory is available: “Music Notes & Flat Key Signatures” Duane holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University. You can sign up for his free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions” which now has over 70,000 current subscribers worldwide.