Rhythm and Pitch in Staff Notation

Introduction to Staff Notation

Staff notation is a method of visually representing pitch and rhythm using symbols on a set of five lines and four spaces, known as a stave.
The vertical location of a note on the stave signifies its pitch. The higher the note is placed on the stave, the higher its pitch.
The horizontal alignment of notes signifies their temporal relationship - notes that are placed further to the right are played later.

Understanding Rhythm in Staff Notation

Musical rhythm is indicated in staff notation by the shape of the note head and tails.
A note with a closed note head and no tail, referred to as a whole note, represents a musical duration of four beats.
A note with a closed note head and a single tail, or a half note, signifies two beats.
A quarter note, signified by a closed note head and one tail, indicates a duration of one beat.
There are also eighth notes, sixteenth notes, thirty-second notes and so on, each with half the duration of the note type preceding it.

Recognising Rests in Staff Notation

Rests represent a silence in the music. They are indicated by specific symbols and their location on the stave does not affect their duration.
There are different types of rests corresponding to the different note lengths, so a whole rest represents four beats of silence, a half rest is two beats of silence and so on.

Understanding Pitch in Staff Notation

Each line and space on the stave represents a different pitch.
The clef at the beginning of a piece of music indicates whether the music is to be played high or low.
The two most common clefs are the treble clef and bass clef. A piece of music may also change clefs partway through.
The common Western system uses seven letter names for notes - A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. After G, the next note is A again, one octave higher.
The use of sharps and flats can adjust the pitch of a note up or down by half a step respectively.

Key Signatures and Scales

In addition to sharps and flats that appear next to individual notes, key signatures can pre-set a scale to use sharps or flats.
A scale is a sequence of notes in ascending or descending order of pitch.
There are many types of scales, including major, minor, and modes.

Chords and Harmony in Staff Notation

When multiple different notes are played at the same time, this forms a chord.
The study of chords and their relationships is known as harmony.
Harmonic progressions and chord sequences can also be indicated in staff notation.