Writing music down
Staff notation is a way of writing down music. If people can read music, they can play or sing the right notes in the right rhythm. Music is made of sound and silence, or rests. In the chart below you see the signs used in staff notation to show you how long the note and last silence.
Note and time names
French time names are used to show how long the sound or the silence lasts.
semi-breve minim note crotchet note quaver note semi-breve rest minim rest crotchet rest quaver rest Saa-aa-aa-aa Saa-aa Saa Sa
The best way to write down a rhythm is to put those notes on a timeline with beats, which you mark with your right and left feet (R, L, R, L, etc.). Here is an example:
New word
staff notation – way of writing music down so that it can be played or sung
Activity 8 Write your own rhythm
Work in groups. Your teacher will give you different musical notes to cut out. 1 Put your notes down one by one above the timeline, leaving the right space for the note that went before.
2 When all the notes are on the timeline, clap the rhythm that you have written.
3 Now sing the rhythm, using the French names. Unit 3: Read, interpret and perform 25
MODULE 2
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