Self-study piano basics course 4 - Sheet music and clefs -

This is a learning course for adult beginners who want to learn piano for free on their own.

In Step 4, we will learn about "music scores and clefs".

This is the end of the long classroom lecture. The course is still at the halfway point, but if you study up to this point, you will be able to read music scores. Let's keep our minds up and study hard.

Let me explain in detail.

The required time is ``about 15 minutes.''

This time's theme

1. “What is staff notation?”
2. "Treble clef and bass clef"
3. "Grand Staff"
4. "Let's try playing it"

staff notation

First, let's talk about staff notation.

「staff notation” is used as a template for creating musical scores, and is used when writing musical notes.Squares"is. As the name suggests, there are five horizontal lines, and a vertical line is placed at the beginning and end of the line to enclose the inside. By placing notes in this staff notation, it is easy to understand which pitch the notes are.

Although there are templates for creating musical scores other than staff notation, most piano scores are created using this staff notation.

clef

「Clef” is one of the symbols used in staff notation. Two commonly used clefs are the treble clef and bass clef. By using clefs, What position on the keyboard does the staff notation refer to?You will be able to understand.

It may not make much sense, but please continue reading. I'm going to explain the "treble clef" and "french clef", so I think you'll understand what they mean.

treble clef

The "treble clef" is a symbol in the staff notation shown above.

Even if you know little about music, you've probably seen this symbol before.

In a staff notation with a treble clef written on it, the notes contained within the treble clef will have note names as shown in the image below.

Doremifasolacid is lined up like this. When the note is half way up on the staff, the do-re-mi-fa-solashido advances one step . Let's understand how this works.

Look at the "left C" note here.

There is a horizontal line on every note. From the staff like this Add horizontal lines to notes that protrudeI am supposed to. I don't draw new horizontal lines for things like "re" that are barely attached to the staff. When writing "A", which is two places below "C", an additional line is added, resulting in two horizontal lines.

I've written whole notes here, but of course quarter notes and eighth notes can also have the same note name if they are in the same position.

bass clef

The "bass clef" is a symbol in the staff notation shown above.

It is shaped like the number "9" with two black dots on the right side. Since you won't write anything unless you compose or arrange it, there's no need to memorize its shape or position exactly.

In a staff notation with a bass clef, the notes contained within it will have note names as shown in the image below.

The treble clef and location have changed completely. Please note that even if there is a note in the staff like this, the corresponding note will change depending on whether it is a ``treble clef'' or a ``french clef''.

[Important] Musical notation and keyboard position

So far, we have learned the treble clef and bass clef. The diagram below shows which keys each corresponds to.

If your screen is small, please click or enlarge.

As you can see from the diagram, the bass clef do-re-mi-fa-solacido refers to a keyboard with a note one octave lower. Then, the "C" that protrudes above the bass clef and the "C" that protrudes below the treble clef match, respectively. This "C" is the center C of the keyboard

The positions of the notes and keys written on this staff notation are useful when reading piano scores.the most important elementis.

Be sure to memorize it and be able to read music scores fluently.

Until you memorize it, keep a screenshot or printout on the piano and play while looking at it.

Grand staff

A grand staff is a combination of two staves like the one shown above. The grand staff is also called the grand staff in English.

This means that you should play with the upper staff in your right hand and the lower staff in your left hand

Many grand staves are made with a treble clef at the top and a bass clef at the bottom.

Let's actually practice

So far, we have learned staff notation, clefs, and their keyboard positions.

Again, once you have memorized this much, you will be able to read many musical scores and be able to play the piano.

From now on, let's practice using actual sheet music.　

Practice ①

The first practice song is the nursery rhyme ``Twinkle Twinkle Star.''

It has a simple melody and is very easy to play, making it a famous song for piano beginners. Up until this exercise ①, the note name is written below the note. Please check and practice. First, play only with your right hand, then only with your left hand.

The staff may be cut off in the middle, or there may be symbols after the treble clef that you haven't learned, but you'll learn those in the next step. You can safely ignore it for this exercise.

If you have difficulty viewing the image, please use this PDF .

Practice ②

Here is the next practice song. I'll leave the title a secret. (Although it is written in English.)

Try playing it and guess what song it is. Also, note names are not given for Do Re Mi, so be sure to check the positions of the notes on the staff and the positions of the keys before playing.

If you have difficulty viewing the image, please use this PDF .

If you can play up to this song, step 4 will be completed.

This site has a collection of nursery rhymes for beginners. Before moving on to the next step, practice with nursery rhymes you know.

Summary of this lesson

1. "Staff notation"
   • ・The grid in which musical notes are placed
2. "Treble clef and bass clef"
   • ・Symbols that determine where the notes in the staff will be placed on the keyboard
   • ・The corresponding keyboard positions for the treble clef and bass clef are different.
3. "Grand Staff"
   • - Separate music scores for right and left hands.

Basic piano course

• Step 1: How to play correctly
• Step 2: Note names and keyboard positions
• Step 3: Notes and rests
• Step 4: Sheet music and clefs
• Step 5: Measures and slurs