CHAPTER 1 The Staff, Clefs and Pitches 1.1 Pitch Pitch refers to how high or low a note sounds. 1.2 The staff Music is written on a staff (See example 1.1). The staff consists of five lines and four spaces. The lines and spaces are counted from the bottom. Each line and space represents a different pitch. —=— First space K First ine Example 1.1 1.3. The bar, bar line and double bar line ‘The staff can be divided into smaller units called bars. A bar line appears at the end of a bar. A double bar line appears at the end of a piece of music to indicate its end: Bar Bar line Double bar line v Example 1.2 1.4 Clefs Clefs are used to indicate notes at specific pitches. A clef appears at the beginning of each staff. Two clefs are introduced in Grade 10, the treble and the bass clef. © 2012 EP Hellberg 11.4.1 The treble clef “To indicate higher pitches, the treble clef appears at the beginning of a staff (See example 1.3). S + Treble clef Other names + Soprano clef Example 1.3 Fill the following staff with treble clefs. Start on the second line and write in pencil. The first one is given as an example. 1.4.2 The bass clef To indicate lower pitches, the bass clef appears at the beginning of a staff: 2 Fe Example 1.4 Make bass clefs on the following staff. Start on the fourth line and remember to add the dots which form part of the clef. The first one is given as an example. 2 © 2012 EP Hellberg ween nannnnnnnnnn an AA1.5. Letter names Each line and space of the staff represents a different pitch. The pitches move from low to high (bottom to top). Each line and space has its own letter name, always written with a capital letter. The “musical alphabet” consists of only seven letters: A, B, C, D, E, F and G, 1.5.1 Letter names of the lines and spaces of the treble clef: Example 1.5 1.5.2 Letter names of the lines and spaces of the bass clef: Example 1.6 Write the letter name below each note. Remember: First look at the clef and write in capital letters. © 2012 EP Helberg 31.6 Writing notes It is important to work neatly. When a note is written in a space, it should touch the lines on both sides without crossing them: | Example 1.7 When a note is written on a line, the line should be exactly in the middle of the note’ Example 1.8 Fona Dona Eina Aina Gona = Aona line line space space line line 2 —— Fina Dona Eina Cina Gona Aina space line space space _ine space 4 © 2012 EP Hellberg AAAAAAARAAAAA RAD AAP PAP AP AP AAA PAAFona Cina Eona Bona Dona Aina line space tine tine line space ——— Aina Gona Eina Gina Dona Bona space line space space line line 4.7 Purpose of clefs The second line of the staff is called “G", The treble clef emphasises the second line of the staff as it touches it 4 times. The treble clef fixes the second line as “G" and is therefore also called the G clef. The second line of the staff will always be “G” when a treble clef appears at the beginning of it, The bass clef emphasises the fourth line as it touches it twice and has a dot on both sides of it. The bass clef fixes the fourth line as “F" and is therefore also called the F clef. The fourth line of the staff will always be “E when a bass clef appears at the beginning of it. Write the correct clef at the beginning of each bar. Ee ' = r eas —— — = = = —1= i [=.= F A D B E G = = = ot o D S F c A E © 2012 EP Hellberg 5Write the following notes. Where a note appears on a line and in a space, it can be written at either place. eine Write letter name below each note. SF OE = = SS 6 © 2012 EP Hellberg AAR A RAR A RRR R AR RAR RRA RAR AAR RARA AAR AAATIVITY 1.7 (CONTINUED) 1.8 The octave An octave is the distance between eight consecutive pitches beginning and ending with the same letter name, for example: cplelFiGlalejc|pje 12345678 Example1.9 ‘The two E's sound identical except that the one sounds an octave higher than the other. Different octaves make it possible for men and women to sing the same tune. The one note of an octave will always be on a line and the other ina space: 4 ] One octave Examplet.10 © 2012 EP Hellberg 7Write the following notes an octave apart: Write the following notes: Fonaline Ginaspace Bonaline Cinaspace Aina space Einaspace Eonaline Finaspace Ainaspace Bonaline Gonaline Einaspace Donaline Gonaline Aina space Answer the following questions: 1.10.1 What are the lines and spaces called on which notes are written? 1.10.2. Why is it necessary to have two clefs? 1.10.3 Why is the soprano clef also called the "G clef" and the bass clef the “Fer? 1.10.4 Should letter names always be written in capital letters? 8 © 2012 EP Helberg RAPA PAA RPA AAA R RRA RR RA RA AAA AAA AAAwo we es me ee me ot ms sy Ss Assessment Tasks Make an F clef. 2. Make a soprano clef. 3. Write the letter names of the following notes: 4. Write the following notes: CaS eo Fon Cina Eon Gina Bon Aina aline space -—aline.~— space. «= aline~— space 5. Are the following statements true or false? 5.1. The staff has four lines and five spaces. 5.2 The bottom line of the staff is the first line. 5.3. The spaces of the F clef are F, A, C, E. 5.4 The fourth line of the G clef is D. 5.5 The distance between eight notes is called an Octave. 5.6 The treble clef fixes the second line. 5.7. Another name for the F clef is the soprano clef. © 2012 EP Hellberg 9