Download Reference Guide to Music Literacy

Reference Guide to Music Literacy
National 4
Treble Clef Notes
Repetition
Sequence
A sequence is a melodic phrase which is immediately played at a
higher or lower pitch.
Here is an example of a descending sequence:
Rhythm
Barlines and Double Barlines
Repeat Signs
A repeat sign
played again.
means that a section of music should be
Time Signatures
A time signature shows the total number of beats in a bar.
2
4
3
4
4
4
are all simple time signatures
The top number tells you how many beats are in a bar.
The bottom number tells you what kind of beat. For example,
4 means there are 4 quarter beats (Crotchets) in a bar.
4
Dynamics
Tempo
Staccato
Staccato notes are short and detached. Here is how to
indicate when you want a note played staccato.
Reference Guide to Music Literacy
National 5
Note Values
1st and 2nd Time Bars
See example below:
More Dynamics
Accidentals
Sharp
Flat
Natural
Accidentals Continued….
Semitones and Tones
A semitone is the smallest distance between two notes.
On a keyboard there is a semitone between any two notes
that are next to each other.
You will see on the keyboard that C to C#
is a semitone. E to F is also a semitone, as
is B to C.
A tone is the distance of two semitones.
There is a tone between C and D. E to F#
is also a tone, as is B to C#.
Scales
Key Signatures
A key signature tells you that certain notes have a # or
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Chords
Chords Continued…..
Write the chord notes in the boxes:
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