Glossary

Beams : Beams are often used to replace flags when two or more eighth and/or sixteenth and/or thirty second notes appear sequentially. When two or more notes are connected by a beam, they are said to be beamed.

Clef : A musical symbol (sign) – there are several clefs. When a clef is place on a stave, a specific range is indicated. Although treble and bass clef are most often used, there are other clefs including alto clef and tenor clef. Though only 3 signs are used in most written music, the placement of these signs on the stave determines the range of the stave. The sign together with it’s placement determines the clef (and the name of the clef).

Conventional time : measured in weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds.

Flag(s) : eighth notes have one flag; sixteenth notes have two; thirty-second notes have three and so on. Flags are attached to stems at the opposite end of the note head. Sometimes flags are are replaced by beams.

Frame (of a graph) : Borrowed from mathematics, the frame labels two subjects and shows their relationship. In the case of ‘A Music Crash Course’, those events are TIME and PITCH.

Harmony : occurs when more than one note is performed at the same point in TIME

Head : All notes have note heads. The head of a note is placed on the stave, along with a clef, to indicate a specific pitch. The three most common note heads are the whole note head (resembling as circle); a half note head (also resembling a circle but shaped ever so slightly different); a quarter note head (resembling a circle but filled). Quarter note heads are also used with eighth, sixteenth, and other notes – the distinction between them being made by the use of flags. Quarter notes have no flags.

Middle C : the (pitch) C at the middle of a piano keyboard – used as a reference pitch. Middle C is indicated on one ledger line below the staff in treble clef and one ledger line above the staff in bass clef.

Natural : Used to indicate the alteration of a note from an established key signature. Also used to alter a note within a measure after it has been previously assigned an accidental.

Notation : written music

Note : symbol placed on a stave to indicate pitches to be performed by the musician reading the music.

Perform : to produce one or more musical pitches from an instrument or voice. In the context of ‘A Music Crash Course’ a rest is said to be “performed” even though a rest means to “perform nothing”.

Pitch : Which sounds to perform on a conventional instrument (or with voice). Although pitches we use in music may be precisely measured by frequency, the study of electronics is not the subject of ‘A Music Crash Course’. In the study of acoustics the definition refers to the relative height or depth of a sound which humans hear – measured by vibration in air.

Range : a specific portion of all possible pitches. A stave has a specific range (unless extended by ledger lines) defined by the use of clefs.

Rest(s) : a symbol placed on a stave to indicate that silence is to be performed by the musician reading the music. In the context of ‘A Music Crash Course’ a rest is said to be “performed” even though a rest means to “perform nothing”.

Stave (or staff) : five evenly spaced lines; with a clef, each line represents a pitch (as do the spaces between them) – a
musical graph without a frame. Some experts will argue there is a difference between a staff and a stave – although they may be correct, it is beyond to scope of ‘A Music Crash Course’ to define.

Stem : All notes have stems (except the whole note). The stem is a vertical line, one end of which begins at the note head and extends approximately one staff length vertically. When place and the right of the note head, the stem extends upwards, when placed on the left, downwards. The direction of the stem is determined by it’s placement and usage.

Sustain (length) : to hold for a specific length of time

Treble clef : also call G clef; see clef.