When it comes to learning all there is to know about music, it’s not always about that bass when you still have treble (trouble) learning notes, finding a correct rhythm, or playing in tune.
After all, music can be considered a foreign vocabulary to some, as attested by music composer Paul DeMarinis, who named one of his very own albums “Music as a Second Language” in 1991, according to allmusic.com.
“I think the challenging thing is the fact that it's like learning how to speak again,” said Raife Campbell, a senior from Australia studying business with a minor in psychology, who is learning how to play the steel drums. “If you read from a book, you speak it. With music, you’re not speaking with your mouth. You’re speaking with your hands or feet or whatever instrument you’re playing. It's difficult and unique at the same time.”
Gavin Michael Nuttall, a junior studying biology from California, said, “My biggest problem is I can read the notes, but I can’t keep the time.” He said he is now learning how to read music again. “I don’t know how long each note is supposed to be.” He then added learning to read music was “really enjoyable and really difficult at the same time.”
There are a lot of elements to learn when learning how to read music. Keeping a rhythm, holding notes the proper length, knowing the difference between musical terms such as “piano” and “forte,” are just a few things a student of music must master.
Luckily, the basics can apply to any instrument, including piano, voice, saxophone, violin, oboe, and so on. If you don’t know how to read music at all, it is important to know about the staff.
The staff consists of five lines on the sheet. Notes are placed on the five lines of the staff. Next are the clefs, including the treble and bass clefs. The treble clef looks like a fancy G at the beginning of the staff on the left. The bass sounds lower compared to the treble clef, and it looks like a backwards C with two dots beneath the top line and second line. Treble clef is usually for higher-pitched instruments, such as violin, flute, or sax. The bass is usually for lower-ranged instruments, such as cello, tuba, or bassoon. Some instruments use both, such as the piano or voice.
Each clef has notes that are on a certain line or space. For the treble clef, the notes in between the lines on the staff from bottom are E, G, B, D, and F. An easy way to remember this is to think of the acrostic “Every Good Boy Does Fine.” In the spaces of the treble clef from bottom to top are the notes F, A, C, and E. Likewise, a simple acrostic to think of for these notes is FACE.
For the bass clef, the lines from bottom to top are G, B, D, F, and A. The way to remember this is “Good Boys Do Fine Always.” The spaces from bottom to top on the bass clef are A, C, E, and G, which can be remembered as “All Cows Eat Grass.” All notes range from A to G, and then repeat all over again, so it takes a bit of learning to figuring out which note is which every time you read.
A musician can know what to play on an instrument or what to sing by understanding the notes on the staff. The way a note is written will influence how long it should be played. Notes with a filled circle and a connected stem are quarter notes. The stem can be up or down, depending where the circle is on the staff. If the circle is empty on the inside, this indicates a half note. If the circle is empty and does not have a line, then it is a whole note. The time signature (the amount of counts per each measure) will determine the length of each note.
Josiah Moimoi, a senior studying business human resources from Fiji, who is learning to play piano, said, “For some people, reading music is as easy as reading books, and the most difficult part for me was to get to that level.”
For those wanting to learn music, concerted and diligent practice are required to produce a talented musician. One can go very far with a limited knowledge of music if he or she is willing to put in the time to discover and learn how to speak this second language. Build on the talent you already have, and most importantly, do not give up with your music still in you.
Source: www.musicnotes.com