Fundamentals
2 Notation of Notes, Clefs, and Ledger Lines
Chelsey Hamm
Key Takeaways
- A note indicates both pitch and rhythm.
- Notes are written on a staff. Higher frequency (shorter wavelength) notes are written above lower frequency (longer wavelength) notes (i.e. higher notes are placed above lower ones).
- A notehead must be written carefully on a staff. A notehead is oval (not round); additionally, it should be neither too large nor too small, and is tilted slightly upwards towards the right.
- A clef indicates which pitches are assigned to the lines and spaces on a staff.
- Extra lines called ledger lines extend a staff higher or lower.
Western musical notation privileges two musical features: pitch and rhythm. Pitches are notated vertically (on the y-axis), while rhythms are notated horizontally (on the x-axis). Western musical notation is read left-to-right and top-to-bottom, like the page of a book in written English.
Notation of Notes
A note indicates both pitch and rhythm. A written note consists of a notehead (either empty or filled in), and optionally can include a stem, beam, or flag (see Rhythmic and Rest Values). shows an illustration of noteheads, stems, beams, and flags:
Staff Notation
A staff (plural staves) is essential for conveying pitch. A staff consists of five horizontal lines, evenly spaced. depicts a staff:
Placing Notes on a Staff
Noteheads on a line should fill in half of each space above and below. Noteheads in a space should just touch the lines above and below.
shows examples of correct noteheads, both open and filled in, both on lines and in spaces:shows incorrect noteheads. As you can see, noteheads can be drawn too small, too big, or the wrong shape.
Noteheads should be oval (not round), and they are tilted slightly upwards towards the right.
Clefs
When notes are drawn on the lines and spaces of a staff, those notes represent pitches. Musicians use spatial metaphors to describe notes placed on a staff. For example, notes appearing towards the top of a staff are said to be “higher” than those appearing towards the bottom of a staff (which are said to be “lower”). Higher notes have a shorter wavelength (and consequently a higher frequency); lower notes have a longer wavelength (and consequently a lower frequency). Such spatial metaphors vary with milieu—i.e. across cultures and time periods. For example, for some music theorists in ancient Greece higher sounding notes were visually placed below lower sounding notes.[1] This is because some ancient Greek music theorists were likely most familiar with string instruments, which include violins, guitars, and harps. demonstrates why this was the case for some authors in ancient Greece:
Notes cannot convey pitch information if the staff on which they appear does not include a clef. A clef indicates which pitches are assigned to the lines and spaces on a staff (also see Reading Clefs). The two most commonly used clefs today are the treble clef and bass clef. Two other