1º ESO - U.1 - (Part I) - Musical Notes, Clefs, and Time Signatures

1. MUSICAL NOTES

Musical sounds are represented by seven letters:

 

C   -   D    - E   - F  -   G   -   A -   B

DO - RE - MI - FA - SOL - LA - SI

2. THE STAFF (usa) or STAVE (uk)
 

The staff is a set of five lines and four spaces where musical notes and symbols are written.

 

  

 

Additional lines are short lines written above or below the staff to indicate the pitch of notes that lie outside the staff.

 

 

  

 

3. CLEFS

 

Clefs are symbols placed at the beginning of the staff to indicate the pitch of the notes.

 

There are three main clefs:

• Treble Clef (clave de SOL): Indicates that the second line of the staff is G.

• Bass Clef (clave de FA): Indicates that the fourth line of the staff is F.

• Alto or Tenor Clef (clave de DO): Indicates that the third line of the staff is C.

 

 

ACLARACIÓN Clave de Do:
 

Alto clef → clave de do en 3ª línea (usada por la viola).

Tenor clef → clave de do en 4ª línea (usada por fagot, violonchelo, trombón en ciertos registros).

 

 

 

 

 

 CÓMO SABER NOMBRE DE LAS NOTAS

 

 Para saber el nombre de una nota debemos mirar en qué línea está la clave. Es decir, la "clave de Sol" está en la segunda línea, eso significa que la nota "Sol" se escribe en la segunda línea. Luego empezaríamos a contar las notas ascendente o descendentemente respetando el orden de líneas y espacios en el orden que sabemos las notas. Por ejemplo, si lo hacemos ascendentemente, después la nota "Sol" va la nota "La", por lo que la nota "la" se escribiría en el segundo espacio.

 

Otro ejemplo:

 

¿Qué nota se escribe en el segundo espacio en la "Clave de Fa" en cuarta línea?

 

 

Piensa que el FA se escribe en la cuarta línea y deberemos ir descendiendo notas siguiente el orden de línea y espacio "Fa (línea) - Mi (espacio) - Re (línea) y DO (espacio)..."

 

 

 

 

ACTIVITIES TO WRITE ON THE BOARD

• Write musical notes on the staff in treble clef and guess their names.
  
  

• Write musical notes on the staff in bass clef and guess their names.
  
  

• Write musical notes on the staff in C clef and guess their names (optional).
  
  

• Write the names of musical notes and draw where they are placed on the staff in treble clef.
  
  

• Write the names of musical notes and draw where they are placed on the staff in bass clef.
  
  

• Write the names of musical notes and draw where they are placed on the staff in C clef (optional).
  
  

  

 

 

 

 

4. MUSICAL NOTES, RESTS AND THEIR VALUES

  

Musical notes and rests have specific durations. The most common ones are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

There are also less common notes like thirty-second notes (demisemiquaver) and sixty-fourth notes (hemidemisemiquaver).

 

 

 

 

ACTIVITIES TO WRITE ON THE BOARD

 

1 – Write a sum of notes and calculate the total value.

 

2 – Write a sum of notes giving a final result but leaving a blank space to complete.

 

1b – Write a sum of notes and calculate the total value, combining rests and musical notes.

 

2b – Write a sum of notes giving a final result but leaving a blank space to complete, combining rests and musical notes.

 

 

 

 

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EXAMPLE OF A SOLVED ACTIVITY:

How many eighth notes are in a whole note?

To solve these exercises, we should follow these steps:

• 1 whole note = 2 half notes

• 1 half nota = 2 quarter notes   =>   There were 2 half notes       =    4 quarter notes

• 1 quarter note = 2 eitghth       =>   There were 4 quarter notes   =    8 eighth notes

 

RESULT: A whole note has 8 eighth notes.

 

 

ACTIVITIES

Answer the following questions:

 

3 – How many sixteenth notes are in a quarter note?

 

4 – How many eighth notes are in a half note?

 

5 – How many sixteenth notes are in a whole note?

 

  

 

5. TIME SIGNATURES (compás)

  

A time signature is a symbol at the beginning of a piece of music (after the clef and key signature) that tells us how the music is organized rhythmically. 

 

It consists of two numbers:

• The top number indicates how many beats are in each measure (bar).
  
  
  

• The bottom number indicates a note/beat value 

            2   =     half note    (blanca)

            4   =   quarter note  (negra)

            8   =   eighth note  (corchea) 

 

 

For example, in a 2/4 time signature:

• The top number (2) tells us there are two beats per measure.

• The bottom number (4) tells us that a quarter note receives one beat. 

  

 

 

 

 

ACTIVITIES

 

6 –  What does the 3/4 time signature mean?

7 –  What does the 3/2 time signature mean?  

ACTIVITIES

8 –  What does the 2/4 time signature mean?

 

9 –  What does the 6/8 time signature mean?  

 

10 –  What does the 4/4 time signature mean?

 

 

ACTIVITIES TO WRITE ON THE BOARD

 

11 –  Write 3 measure/bars for the students to complete with ONLY 1 musical note, and change the bars each time.

 

12 –  Same activity as before, but now they can complete the measure/bars with several musical notes.