The treble and bass clefs are the most commonly used clefs in music. You need to be able to read them for Grade 1.
Take a look at this video to get started on the treble clef,
and this to follow on:
It is important that you not only watch the videos, but that you also test your knowledge by doing some exercises. Try this one to test your treble clef knowledge.
For more exercises using both the treble and the bass clefs try these. You can choose to do just treble clef or just bass clef exercises, or you can combine the two.
You need to know the names of all the notes on these staves as well as 'middle C' - the note that sits between the staves.
You need to know the names of all the notes on these staves as well as 'middle C' - the note that sits between the staves.
Any questions, just ask a member of staff.
Time names.
Time names.
For Grade one you need to know the time names listed below and how many beats each note value gets.
Semibreve = 4 beats
Minim = 2 beats
Crotchet = 1 beat
Quaver = half a beat
Semiquaver = quarter of a beat
This video should help to explain the note names and values and also covers dotted notes.
Dotted notes and Ties
Dotted notes have been explained in the previous video, but to recap:
Dotted notes are a note followed by a dot. The dot is worth half the value of the note, so you add the 2 values together to get the full value of the note. Eg. a dotted minim is a minim (2 beats) plus half the value of a minim (1 beat) added together, which makes 3 beats. This video gives a very clear explanation of dotted notes:
A tie, as well as being something that boys have to wear to school, is a curved line that joins together 2 notes of the same pitch. Their value is added together so that the note sounds for the combined value of the 2 notes - the note is note re-struck or re-articulated. This video explains ties very clearly:
(Exercises coming soon).
Accidentals and tones and semitones
Take a look at this video to find out more:
Scales and Key signatures
For Grade 1 you need to know the scales and key signatures of C, G D and F major. Some of the previous videos help with this, but also look at these:
Degrees of the scale and intervals
The first degree of the scale is called the Key-note or Tonic.
The distance in pitch between two different notes is called an interval. If the two notes are played one after the other it is called a melodic interval. If they are played together it is called a harmonic interval.
You can measure the size of an interval by counting the number of degrees of the scale that it includes: The number of degrees is the number of the interval. Always count the bottom note of the interval as 1.
The tonic triad is a group of three notes: the tonic or key-note plus the 3rd and 5th degrees above it.
Time signatures
The time signature is the pair of numbers at the beginning of a piece of music which tells how many beats or counts are in each bar. In Grade 1 the top number is 2, 3, or 4. The bottom number, in Grade 1, will always be 4. The bottom number tells you that you are using/counting in Crotchet beats.
2 = 2 crotchet beats in a bar
4
3 = 3 crotchet beats in a bar
4
4 = 4 crotchet beats in a bar
4
4 can also be written as C which stands for Common Time.
4
When writing time signatures you must remember that There is no line between the 2 numbers
Frequently used terms.
Look at and learn the terms on page 27 of the Grade 1 book.
Also take at look at this page for some more terms.
