Music theory - Lesson 2: The staff

The staff is the graphic symbol on which all musical writing is centered . It is where
musical notes and other musical signs such as time signatures or time signature formulas
are written. The pentagram is made up of five horizontal and parallel lines ; as well as
equidistant.

These five parallel lines form four spaces between them. Musical notes are also
located in these spaces. In practice, we say that there are five lines and four spaces.
These lines and spaces are named from bottom to top ; So, for example, we can name
the line below as the first line .

Figure 1. The staff. 5 lines, 4 spaces.

More lines and spaces can be added to this musical staff through what are known as
additional lines . There are times when the notes exceed the scope of the staff, which is
why the use of these additional lines is necessary.

Figure 2. Additional lines and spaces.

The lowest sounds are written in the lowest part of the staff. As a musical sound
becomes higher pitched, its note ascends through the musical staff. On the other hand,
it is not recommended that the notes exceed those of the staff by four or five lines.

Musical theory - Lesson 3: Musical keys

The keys are a reference to know the location of a certain musical note . For example:
how would we know what musical sound is a note located on the second line of the staff?

There is no way to know, unless what that note is is indicated by some graphic symbol.
This symbol is what is known as a clef, and it is precisely what gives us the key to discern
the notes on the staff.
 Figure 3. The keys indicate the location of the notes.

Treble Clef. It tells us that the note C is on the 2nd line. It is the one that
is used the most.

FA clef on 4th line. The note located on the 4th line of the staff is an F. It
is widely used for piano.

Bass clef on 3rd line. The third line of the staff will contain an F

DO key in 1st. In this case, it is the first line that houses the C note. It is
used for bass instruments.

DO key in 2nd. The C nora will be located on the second line of the staff.

C key in 3rd. This key indicates that the C is the note of the 3rd line. It is
used with instruments such as the viola.

C key in 4th. In this case, the C is on the 4th line.

Musical theory - Lesson 4: The measures

For the reading of music to be orderly, we need to divide the spelling into a series of
equal portions . These portions are called measures . They divide the staff into equal
parts, and group a portion of musical notes into the staff.

The beat is divided , in turn, into equal parts that are called beats . All these divisions
help the reading of music. Imagine a staff without bars; It would be impossible to read the
music.

Figure 4 shows us the measures:

Figure 4. The compasses and dividing lines

help read music

As can be seen in the figure, there is a dividing line or bar line that separates one
measure from the next . This bar line crosses perpendicularly to the staff.
There is also the double bar that basically tells us that a significant change has been
introduced in the next measure ; such as a change in tempo. Finally, there is also the
final bar which, as its name indicates, signals the end of the reading . It would be like
the full stop in a literary work.

Figure 5. The double bar and the final assist us

in musical reading.

We can signal with the double bar:

 The separation into parts of a score.

 A modification of the key, or a variation in the beat.
 Any change in the score that we want to highlight from the double bar.

Music theory - Lesson 5: Figures of value

and time signature formula
Musical sounds must have a precise duration in time ; If this were not the case, music
would not be possible. The value figures are those that determine the duration of the
sounds relative to each other. Silences are the sound pauses in musical sounds.

The figures of value are seven, and from highest to lowest they are:

 ROUND
 WHITE
 BLACK
 QUAVER
 SEMIQUAVER
 FUSE
 SEMIFUSE

Each silence corresponds in duration to the value of a certain figure of value; so we

can say that there are pairs equivalent in duration between figures and silences.

Figure 6. Correspondence between figures of value and silences.

The vertical line that starts from the note is called the stem , and the upper extension of
the end of the line is called the bracket .

There is a relationship in the duration of the notes between the figures of value; This
ratio is known as relative value , and is 1:2. This means that one figure of value indicates
twice the duration of the next figure. For example, the quarter note is equal to two quarter
notes, the quarter note is worth two eighth notes...

Compass formula

In the lesson on the beat it has been said that it is divided into a series of equal portions
that are called beats. To know how many beats , and the duration of each one, the
measure is divided into, we have a symbol called the measure formula .

Specifically, it is a fraction following the key whose numerator indicates the number
of times , and in the denominator the value figure that acts as a unit to measure the
duration of said times.

Figure 7. The compass formula tells us the number

of times and their duration

 The figure of value that is equivalent in duration to a time is called a unit of time .
 The figure of value that, in duration, coincides with a measure is called a measure unit

The most common thing is for the quarter note to be the unit of time, since 4 is widely used
as a denominator in the time signature formula. The more we use figures, as a unit of time,
close to the round, the fewer short-term figures we can use.

Figure 8. Correspondence between figures and denominators

Music theory - Lesson 6: The ligature value

and the dot
The ligature of value is a symbol that serves to join the duration of two figures of
value that are at the same height. It is a small arc, parallel to the staff that joins the two
musical notes.

It should be said that there are at least two joined together, but you can see more notes
affected by the ligature. On the other hand, in practice only the first note is played , and
it continues playing during the addition of the remaining notes.

The following image shows this more graphically:

Figure 9. Slugged notes are not played; only the first

during the addition of the others.

Figure 9 shows ties of value that are within a measure; However, ligatures can exceed
the measure , extending to the next (even one beyond). The ligature value is renewed
when it joins a note from the next measure .

Figure 10. The ligature must be renewed when it exceeds the

compass where he was born.

The point

Surely, when looking at a score, you have seen a little dot next to the musical note, that
dot indicates that you have to increase half the value of the figure, or silence if it is next
to a rest.

Figure 11. There is an equivalence between the dot

and the ligature of value.

for time signature formula.

Music theory - Lesson 7: Simple and
compound measures
These are measures with a simple beat structure (measure divisions). In practice, simple
ones are those that, in their corresponding time signature formula, have 2, 3 and 4 as
numerators.

The measures with two and four beats are called binary , and the one with 3 beats is
called ternary . On the other hand, they can have any denominator in their time
signature formula.

The time unit of these measures are simple figures (without dots); and they are the basis
for forming more complex ones.

Figure 12. Binary and ternary measures are simple

in the structure of their times.

As for compound measures , they have a more complex structure; They are
characterized by having 6, 9 or 12 as numerators . If we take a simple measure and
multiply the numerator and denominator by two, we will have a compound one.

Figure 13. Time units and binary divisions for

simple and compound measures.
 THE UNIT OF TIME IN COMPOUND TIMES
IT IS A FIGURE WITH A STITCH

The indicator figure in the measures

For simple time signatures, the numerator of the time signature formula tells us the
number of beats in the measure. The denominator reflects the figure that will be worth a
while; that is, the unit of time. For compounds it is the same with the exception that the
denominator reflects the dotted figure as a unit of time.

Figure 14. Correspondences between formulas

of compass and figures of value.