Note Durations

Notes are made up of a durations, or beats.  The top note shown below is a whole note and gets 4 beats.  It is broke up into two half notes that both get 2 beats each.  The half note is broke into a quarter note which gets 1 beat.  So if you tap your foot, a quarter note counts for each time you tap.  Next is the 8th note and it takes two 8th notes to equal a quarter note.  Finally, it takes two 16th notes to equal an 8th note, or four 16th notes to equal a quarter note.  This chart below shows a great representation of these durations.

Rhythm

An important part of music is the rhythm.  Above is a picture of a staff.  This staff tells us that we are in Treble cleff, and that we are in 4/4 time.  4/4 time means that each measure has 4 beats and that the quarter note gets the count.  Rhythm and understanding the time signature can be tricky when you are new to music.  There is an amazing website that will help you understand this better by breaking it down step by step visually for you.  Go to The Music Lab to learn more.

Note names of the scale

There are lots of psuedonyms that can be used to remember the names of the notes on a staff.  Below are some of the most common ones listes.

TREBLE CLEF

For the lines e-g-b-d-f: every good boy does fine or elvis's guitar broke down friday

For the spaces:  f-a-c-e,  they spell face.  Easy to remember!

BASS CLEF

For the spaces: a-c-e-g,  all cows eat grass.

For the lines: g-b-d-f-a, good boys do fine always

Wholetone Scale

Above is a wholetone scale.  A regular scale consists of 8 notes and follows a pattern of  whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half steps between notes.   A wholetone scale has all whole steps between each note and only 7 notes instead of 8 notes.

Great Website

I found a great website today that I wanted to share that will walk you through music theory starting at the beginning.   Its important to practice music theory, not just practice singing or playing music.  The basics of theory are the building blocks for everything else done in music!  This site is great for kids.    Music Theory

Modes

There are lots of Modes and Scales out there.  We are most familiar with major and minor, but there are chromatic scales, phygian scales, pentatonic scales, and the list goes on.  To learn all about the different modes and scales visit Modes and Scales.

Worksheets and Quizzes

Here are some great resources for practicing or quizzing yourself on music theory.  Practice makes perfect as the saying goes!  All of these resources are free, with no passwords or logins needed.

Quizzes


Worksheets for Theory


Music Theory Worksheets


Beginning Theory Quizzes