Music Notation Glossary
Staves
Staff - the five horizontal lines between or on which
notes are placed
Grand Staff - two staves joined by a brace and
used for a single performer; typically top staff uses treble clef and bottom staff uses bass clef,
meaning that middle C falls on a ledger line between the two; standard for piano music
Clefs
Clef - indicates the range of notes that can be
represented on the staff lines; middle C is the pitch that falls roughly in the middle of a
full-size piano, so we will use it to compare the highness or lowness of the range of pitches on a staff
Treble Clef ('G clef') - for high instruments
or voices; curves around the line to be used for the G above middle C
Bass Clef ('F clef') - for low instruments or
voices; the dots surround the line to be used for the F below middle C
Alto Clef ('C clef') - for mid-range instruments
or voices; the middle line is used for middle C
Notes and Rests
Note - indicates both the pitch (highness/lowness) and
rhythmic value (duration) of the note to be sounded
Pitch - indicated by the vertical position (height)
of the note on the staff in conjunction with the clef; note names (such as A, C-sharp, or E-flat)
are also used to denote pitch; see Pitch
Rhythmic Value - the duration of a note is
indicated by noteheads, stems, flags, and dots; see Rhythm
Note Head - the oval part of the note, the
position of which on the staff indicates the pitch; may be open (an outline), or filled in
completely
Stem - the line that goes up on the right side of
the notehead, or down at the left side of the notehead
Flags and Beams - the curved lines that come off
of the stems to indicate different rhythmic durations are flags; often succesive notes with
flags are connected by horizontal beams as a replacement for individual flags
Dot - a small circle placed to the right of the
notehead that increases the duration of the note to 150% of the original rhythmic value
Rest - indicates the duration of silence between notes,
see Rhythms
Time Signatures and Measures
Time Signature - the top number indicates how
many beats are grouped into a measure, and the bottom number represents the rhythmic duration that is
counted as the beat (4 means quarter note, 2 means half note, and so on); see Rhythms and Beat and Meter
Measure ('Bar') - delineated by vertical barlines;
measures mark groups of beats as defined by the time signature
Accidentals and Key Signatures
Accidentals - sharps, flats, and natural signs;
see Pitch
Sharp - indicates that a given note or collection of
notes is to be played a half-step up
Double Sharp - indicates that a given note
or collection of notes is to be played 2 half-steps (a whole step) up
Flat - indicates that a given note or collection of
notes is to be played a half-step down
Double Flat - indicates that a given note
or collection of notes is to be played 2 half-steps (a whole step) down
Natural - negates the effect of a sharp, double
sharp, flat, or double flat
- Key Signature - indicates the collection of notes
to be used in a piece or section; the placement of sharps and flats indicates which pitches should be
sounded up or down a half-step, and thus indicates the scale to be used in a particular piece or
section; see Scales and Keys