Beats and Tone

From the Early Non Fiction Series

C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F
1 and 2 and

Danielle Bruckert
 Early Nonfiction

Beat and Tone

Early Nonfiction Series
Published by Red Sky Ventures
Created by Danielle Bruckert © Jul 2019

This work is licensed under the

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.
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This text is free for non-commercial distribution and use.

No part of this text may be reproduced for commercial use
without express permission of the author.

Any use of this material must be attributed to:

Danielle Bruckert – http://www.freekidsbooks.org

Contact the CREATORS at:

danielle@redskyventures.org

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 Music is all
about beat and
tone.
 1 and 2 and...

Beats are as
simple as
counting.
 C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F
1 and 2 and

Tone can be
learned like
ABCs.
 C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F
1 and 2 and

Let's start with

learning beat.
 In music
a 4/4 bar
has four
quarter beats.
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Or it can have
8 eighth beats.
Or it can have
16 sixteenth
beats. You get
it right?
It also has
2 half beats.
How many
whole beats?
Yes, a whole
beat is 4
counts in 4/4.
Can you see
the pattern?
 Eighth notes quarter notes

half notes whole notes

Let's recap 4/4:

whole is four counts
Half is two counts,
Quarter is one count,
Eighth is half count
And so on.
 A rest is a
pause, where
there is no
beat.
Different beats
have different
numbers of
notes in a bar.
2/2 has 2 half
beats, 2/4 has
2 quarter
beats, and 2/8
has two eights.
 The top
number is the
type of beat
and the bottom
the number.
 Whenever
there is no beat
there must be
a rest!
 Dotted notes
add half a note
again and tied
notes link.
 Extension:
Sometimes these notes
are called
Semi Breve - whole
Minum – ½ - half
Crotchet – ¼ - quater
Quaver – 1/8 eighth
Semi quaver – 1/16 - sixteenth
Can you clap
these rhythms
in 4/4?
Here are some
tricky rhythms
to clap.
Hint – try using a
metronome
Can you see
the pattern
now?
 C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F
1 and 2 and

Lets learn
about tone.
 The natural
notes are
named like the
alphabet.
A, B, C, D, E, F
G, only 7, then
we start at A.
On a piano the
natural notes
( ) are the
white keys.
 C# D# F# G# A#

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb

C D E F G A B

The other
notes are
called sharps
(#) or fats ( ).
 C# D# F# G# A#

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb

C D E F G A B

On a piano the
sharps and fats
are the black
keys.
 C# D# F# G# A#

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb

C D E F G A B

Sharps and
fats relate to
the natural
C# = D
 C# D# F# G# A#

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb

C D E F G A B

That is, sharps

and fats have
two names
C# = D
The jump from
A to A again is
called an
Octave.
 C# D# F# G# A#

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb

C D E F G A B

An octave
contains all the
notes we have.
 C# D# F# G# A#

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb

2 4 7 8 9

C D E F G A B

1 3 5 6 8 10 12

For traditional
music that's 12
notes all
together!
 C# D# F# G# A#

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb

2 4 7 8 9

C D E F G A B

1 3 5 6 8 10 12

7 naturals
5 accidentals
(sharp or fat)
 Each octave
repeats at
higher or lower
pitches.
 How many
octaves can
you count
here?
STAVE / STAFF

TREBLE BASS
CLEF CLEF

To write down
music we use
clefs and
staves.
 Each line on
the staff is one
natural note.
The sharp and
fat notes are
you guessed it
# or .
 Can you see
why sometimes
a # or can be
better?
b

C D E F G A B C

tone tone ½ tone tone tone tone ½ tone

A scale is a
series of tones
or half tones in
an octave.
 C# D# F# G# A#

C D E F G A B C

A scale with all

12 notes is a
chromatic
scale.
 Db Eb Gb Ab Bb

C D E F G A B C

Chromatic
scales have
only half tones.
 C Major

A minor

Other scales
can be major or
minor.
 C Major
b

C D E F G A B C

tone tone ½ tone tone tone tone ½ tone

Major keys are

happy
sounding.
 A minor

tone ½tone tone tone ½tone tone tone

Minor keys are

sad
sounding.
 C Major

A minor

The easiest
scales are C
major and A
minor.
 C# D# F# G# A#

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb

C D E F G A B

C major and A
minor don't
have any
sharps of fats.
Finger: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5

Try to play
these scales on
a keyboard
(real or online).
 Can you hum
along?
Note the
different sound
Now try this
tune, do you
recognise it?
 C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F
1 and 2 and

Congratulations,
now you can
play music!
Glossary

Scale
Clef
Note
Sharp
Flat
Natural
Accidental
Tone
Beat
Quarter note / Crochet
Eighth note / Quaver
Half Note / Minum
Whole note / Semi Breve
Time signature
Major
Minor
Octave
Bar
Metronomes
 C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F
1 and 2 and
Resources and Activities
Check out The Captain Uke's Glockenspiel Book, you should
be able to play all the tunes in the book now:
The Kaptain Uke Glockenspiel Book - Simple tunes for all ages
Try writing your own music with MuseScore: A free
program, and really easy to use:
https://musescore.org/en/download
The piano or keyboard is a great starting point for music,
and can be easily learn try some simple tunes using two
hands next.
Once you know rhythm and how to read music, you can try
any instrument out, contact a local music school or
business to see if you can hire an instrument you might like
to learn.
 To contact the author write to danielle@redskyventures.org

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