Section 1: Staves

In this first chapter we are going to begin building the foundation of what every musician will need - Music Theory. Music Theory is the study of the theoretical elements of music including sound and pitch, rhythm, melody, harmony, and notation.

You are encouraged to take notes and actually write out the examples used. This will help you to not only understand what you see when you look at sheet music, but it will "back up" in practice, everything that you learn and will also put into practice composition. So Let us begin with two definitions.

Score: The notation of a musical work; 2. the written form of a composition for orchestral or vocal parts; 3. the music written for a film or a play.

Staff: A set of horizontal lines and intermediate spaces used in notation to represent a sequence of pitches, in modern notation normally consisting of five lines and four spaces.

Just as every writer needs paper to write on, so does a good composer. Music is written on a special type of paper called a score. The score is made up of a series of lines called a staff, (Figure A). Do not let the definition above throw you off. As you can see, a staff is simply five lines and the four spaces between them. The plural of staff, by the way, is Staves.

Each of the lines and spaces represent a different note. The lines, (from bottom to top), are named E, G, B, D, and F. The spaces are named F, A, C, and E. An easy way to remember this is with a simple catch phrase, Every Good Boy Does Fine, and of course the spelling of the word "FACE". As you advance in this course, you will learn the ability to read and play the note or "pitch" when you see it on a score.

Figure A (The Staff)