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Clef: A Symbol found at the left end of a staff, indicating the pitch of the notes written.

Treble or G Clef: The clef used by violinists. The curl circles around the note G.

Alto or C Clef: The clef used by violists. The center line is the note Middle C.

Bass or F Clef: The clef used by cellists and bassists. The two dots are above and below the note F.

Notes & Rests: Lengths of sound (notes) and silence (rests).

     Name                      Note                  Rest

Rhythm Tree

Dynamics: Symbols that tell you the volume of the music (loud or soft).

Check out Ms. McTighe's animation on dynamics!

Accidental: A symbol that modifies pitches on the staff to make them lower or higher.

Sharp: Raises the pitch of a note by a half step.

Natural: Normal. Not high or low.

Flat: Lowers the pitch of a note by a half step.

Time Signature: Information given at the beginning of a piece or section that determines the meter (a pattern of beats) in music. Music is written in marked-off units of time. Time signatures establish the number of beats in each unit of time. 

Four Four Time: There are 4 beats in each measure. The quarter note gets the beat. 

Common Time: Marked by the C, common time is another way of writing 4/4. There are 4 beats in each measure. The quarter note gets the beat. 

Three Four Time: There are 3 beats in each measure. The quarter note gets the beat. 

Two Four Time: There are 2 beats in each measure. The quarter note gets the beat. 

Six Eight Time: There are 6 beats in each measure. The eighth note gets the beat. 

Key Signature: A set of sharps or flats placed on the staff to indicate which notes are raised or lowered. It is usually found right after the clef, but can occur in other places as well.

Tempo: The speed of the music. How fast or slow it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grave: Very slow.

         Example: Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata - Grave-Allegro

Largo: Slow.

         Example: Bach's Double Violin Concerto in D - Largo

Adagio: Moderately slow. Means "at ease."

         Example: Barber's Adagio for Strings

Andante: Walking speed.

         Example: Vivaldi's Double Cello Concerto - Andante

Moderato: Moderately.

         Example: Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1 - Moderato

Allegro: Fast, quick, and bright.

         Example: Mozart's Eine Kleine Nacht Musik - Allegro

Presto: Very fast.

         Example: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 - Presto Agitato

 

Accelerando: Gradually getting faster. Marked "acc." in music.

Ritardando: Gradually getting slower. Marked "rit." in music.

a Tempo: Return to the tempo from the beginning

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