Rudiments of music

There are seven musical letters, namely: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. These seven letters are called the musical alphabets. They are used to write music.

Definition of Clef

A clef can be defined as a musical symbol (sign) written at the beginning of the staff.

There are two major types of clef namely:

Treble clef and Bass clef.

The symbols for treble clef is 

The symbol for Bass clef is 

G clef is also called Treble clef. When G clef sign is placed on the staff, the staff automatically becomes treble staff.

F clef is as well called Bass clef. when the bass clef is placed on the stave, the stave becomes Bass staff.

The names  of each of the five lines are shown together with the spaces. Learn the notes of these lines by saying this memory aid: Every Green Bus Drives Fast. The notes in spaces spell out FACE

The names of each of the five lines are shown together with the spaces. The following memory aids will help with easy learning for notes of the bass stave: Green Buses Drive Fast Always for notes on lines, and All Cows Eat Grass for spaces.

EVALUATION

Give the name of the note on the:

1. 3^rdline of the treble stave.
2. 2^ndline of the bass stave.
3. 1^stline of the treble stave.
4. 1^stline of the bass stave.
5. 4^thline of the treble stave.

Great/Grand Stave

Two staves joined together with a vertical line on the left (as in pianoscore), with the top staff being treble clef, and the bottom staff being bass. It consist of 11 lines and 10 spaces. Irrespective of the space left between the staves it is important to join the two staves with a brace.

The piano score is written on the two staves of the grand staff. The left hand is used to play notes on the bass stave while the right hand is used to play the notes on the treble stave.

EVALUATION

1. Underneath each note, write the correct letter name:

Musical Notes Major Scale of C Natural

Musical Notes and their Relative Values

Musical sounds are represented in writing by symbols called notes which show their values, duration or length. These musical notes are of various shapes.

Types of Musical Notes

There are six principal notes which are in common use nowadays. These notes are shown in the table below:

Musical Name, Note and Beat Value

	Name of Musical Note	Symbol or Note	Value/Beat/ Duration	American Name
	Semibreve		4	Whole note
	Minim		2	Half note
	Crotchet		1	Quarter note
	Quaver		1/2	Eighth note
	Semiquaver		1/4	Sixteenth note
	Demi-semi quaver		1/8	Thirty-second note

Relationship of Musical Notes

The musical notes are related with one another, for example:

1. A Semibreve contains two minims, four crotchets, eight quavers, sixteen semi-quavers, and thirty-two demi-semiquavers.
2. A Minim contains two crotchets, four quavers, eight semiquavers, and sixteen demi-semiquavers.
3. A Crotchet contains two quavers, four semiquavers and eight demi-semiquavers.
4. A Quaver contains two semiquavers and four demi-semiquavers.
5. A Semiquaver contains two demi-semiquavers.

EVALUATION

1. Write one note that equals the following group of notes:

Definition and Application of Major Scale of C Natural

In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfa notation, these notes correspond to the syllables “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Soh, La, Ti, (Do)”, the “Do”. The simplest major scale to write or play on the piano is C major, the only major scale not to require sharps or flats, using only the white keys on the piano keyboard:

Uses of Music

1. Music is used for social ceremonies such as marriages, birthdays, funerals, graduations, house warming parties, etc.
2. Music serves as a means of religious worship, for instance, in the churches, mosques , at homes, etc.
3. Music serves as a means of celebrating traditional and contemporary festivals, carnivals, namely: New Yam Festival, Argungun Fishing, Eko Carnival, Eyo Festival, etc.
4. Music is used during teaching-learning in the classroom by the teachers to teach morals and stimulate interest/ excitements while learning.
5. Music is used to lull babies to sleep when crying, such song is called lullaby.
6. Music serves as a means of making advertisements through the television and radio, such song is called jungle.
7. Music serves as agent of change and revolution to human civilization.
8. Music is used at work places and during games sessions by artisans and sport fans to boost morale.
9. Music serves as means of making election campaigns to win supporters.
10. Music serves as means of conveying messages, ideas, concepts, etc. to others in the society.

EVALUATION

1. State any five uses of music.