"Music is like a fire in your belly that bursts out your mouth, so you better put an instrument in front of it." This was a line from the world's longest prime time running cartoon show, The Simpsons. Music is one of the oldest forms of communication. Neither the wealthiest man of all the Earth, nor the poorest peasant can not enjoy and be inspired by it's mystical power. There are four major parts to music: pitch, scale, time, and harmony. There is also notation, which will be explained in the western form.
Pitch is related to the frequency of sound waves producing a specific tone. The higher the frequency there is, the higher the pitch. There is one unique relationship between pitches, which is called an octave. This is when the second pitch is twice the frequency as the first pitch. These two tones blend together very well. It is called an octave because in the most popular form of music, the Western form, it is the eighth full note of the starting note. Most western music is based on twelve equal intervals in one octave. Each interval is called a half step or a semitone. You can hear these 12 intervals on a guitar or keyboard. This will be explained in more depth in the notation of music.
There are many different scales in music. The most common scale is dividing an octave into twelve steps. Another common scale is a five interval scale known as a pentatonic scale. The most common pentatonic scale has no half steps to it. This scale can be found in Western folk, and various other art and folk music. It consists of 3 whole steps and 2 one and a half steps. On a keyboard, it is the black keys. Japanese music also uses a pentatonic scale, which in no way corresponds to a twelve step scale.
Time in music can also be referred to as rhythm. Time means the duration of tones and rests. Tones can be arranged in many different ways. Most music follows a certain pattern in which it repeats itself in a song. Instead of having long group of tones, there usually is a pattern which we, the listeners, can focus on more easily. Consider these mathematical equations:
1) 2+4+3+3+4+3+4+4+2+2+3+2=36
2) 2+3+4+2+3+4+2+3+4+2+3+4=36
Although they both are equal to the same thing and consist of the same numbers, people would remember the second equation sequence easier because it can be grouped into the pattern 2+3+4, repeated 4 times.
Harmony is when two or more pitches are sounded together to make a pleasing combination. Harmony is found in chords. There are two types of chords: broken and block. Block chords are when two or more pitches overlap each other and are played at the same time. Broken chords are when the two or more notes are played at separate times. Broken chords can also be referred to ad arpeggios. When music is composed with multiple independent, but related parts, it is called polyphony. It also can be referred to as when two distinct melodies are counterpoints.
The above is what is called a staff. On that staff, there is what is called a clef (the first symbol). A clef indicates what pitch to play at. The two numbers on top of each other is called the time signature. The top tells you how many beats are in a measure, while the bottom number tells you what note gets one beat. The most common time signature is 4/4 time, which can be written as C:. This means that there are four beats in one measure and a 4 on the bottom signifies that the quarter note gets one beat. (In case you don't know, a measure is the space between the vertical lines on a staff ) If there is an 8 on the bottom, it means the eighth note gets one beat and if there is a 2 on the bottom, it means the half note gets one beat. Here is a diagram of the symbols in music:
| Staff- what music is written on |  |
| Bar Line - separates a staff into measures |  |
| Clefs | Tells Musician what pitch the notes are at |
| Treble Clef |  |
| Bass Clef |  |
| Time Signatures | Tells how many beats per measure and what note gets one beat |
| 3/4 Time - signifies 3 beats per measure and the quarter note gets one beat |  |
| 4/4 Time - signifies 4 beats per measure and the quarter note gets one beat |  |
| Notes | Tells you what tone to play and how long to play it. Note duration will be based on 4/4 time. |
| Whole note - played for 4 beats |  |
| Half note - played for 2 beats |  |
| Dotted half note - played for 3 beats (dot signifies to play note 1 and a half times it's normal duration.) |  |
| Quarter note - played for 1 beat |  |
| Dotted quarter note - played for 1 and a half beats |  |
| Eighth note - played for half a beat |  |
| Dotted eighth note - played for 3/4 a beat |  |
| Rest | Duration of time between notes where a note is note being played |
| Whole rest - rest for 4 beats |  |
| Half rest - rest for 2 beats |  |
| Quarter rest - rest for 1 beat |  |
| Eighth rest -rest for half a beat |  |
| Sharp/Flat | |
| Sharp - increases a note by half a step |  |
| Flat - decreases a note by half a step |  |
This is the basic notation of music. There are more symbols, but some a quite complex.
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