I.2.A

Review

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Frequency

Harmonic Series

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Seven Natural Notes

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A

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Pattern repeats on the 8th note, called the octave.

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I.2.Ba

Ambitus

range

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The purpose of music notation is to represent some of the notes, or a range of notes, not every note possible.

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Any voice or instrument has a set number of pitches it may sound; this is the range.

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A bass cannot sing as high as a soprano and vice versa.

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Range may also be used generally to refer to any set of notes; specifically indicating from the lowest pitch to the highest pitch of any group.

I.2.Bb

Lineæ Musicæ

music lines/staff

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5 lines/4 spaces were not always standardized. Here we have a piece of early music that uses 4 lines.

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Centuries ago, 5 lines/4 spaces had become the standard as it is legible and may represent the range of most instruments and voices.

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The 5 lines and 4 spaces themselves have no meaning without a clef. Like any graph, the staff needs labels to carry specific meaning.

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The clef's purpose is to label one of the 5 lines to represent an orientation note; since music has a set pattern, once one line is labeled, the values of the other lines and spaces are easily recognized.

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I.2.Bc

Orientatio Clavis

clef orientation

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Clefs show what range of music we are trying to represent.

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Notice how each focuses on a different octave:

Bass: A=110 - A=220

Alto: A=220 to A=440

Soprano: A=440 to A=880

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Each clef labels an orientation note on one of the 5 lines of the music staff.

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The next episode goes into each clef in detail.