Music is all about beat and tone.
1 and 2 and...
Beats are as simple as counting.
C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F 1 and 2 and
Tone can be learned like ABCs.
C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F 1 and 2 and
Let's start with learning beats or rhythm.
In music a 4/4 bar has four quarter beats.
Or it can have 8 eighth beats.
Or it can have 16 sixteenth beats.
It also has 2 half beats. How many whole beats?
Yes, a whole beat is 4 counts in 4/4. Can you see the pattern?
Eighth notes quarter notes
half notes whole notes
Let's recap 4/4: whole is four counts Half is two counts, Quarter is one count, Eighth is half count And so on.
A rest is a pause, where there is no beat.
Whenever there is no beat there must be a rest!
Dotted notes add half a note again and tied notes link.
Extension: Sometimes these notes are called Semi Breve - whole Minum – ½ - half Crotchet – ¼ - quater Quaver – 1/8 eighth Semi quaver – 1/16 - sixteenth
Different rhythms have different numbers of notes in a bar.
Can you clap these rhythms in 4/4?
Here are some tricky rhythms to clap.
Can you see the pattern? (Hint – the bottom number is the type of beat)
C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F 1 and 2 and
Lets learn about tone.
The natural notes are named like the alphabet.
A, B, C, D, E, F G, only 7, then we start at A.
On a piano the natural notes ( ) are the white keys.
The other notes are called sharps (#) or fats ( ).
On a piano the sharps and fats are the black keys.
Sharps and fats relate to the natural C# = D
That is, sharps and fats have two names C# = D
The jump from A to A again is called an Octave.
An octave contains all the notes we have.
For traditional music that's 12 notes all together!
7 naturals 5 accidentals (sharp or fat)
Each octave repeats at higher or lower pitches.
How many octaves can you count here?
STAVE / STAFF
TREBLE BASS CLEF CLEF
To write down music we use clefs and staves.
Each line on the staff is one natural note.
The sharp and fat notes are you guessed it # or .
Can you see why sometimes a # or can be better?
b
C D E F G A B C
tone tone ½ tone tone tone tone ½ tone
A scale is a series of tones or half tones in an octave.
C D E F G A B C
A scale with all 12 notes is a chromatic scale.
C D E F G A B C
Chromatic scales have only half tones.
C Major
A minor
Other scales can be major or minor.
C Major b
C D E F G A B C
tone tone ½ tone tone tone tone ½ tone
Major keys are happy sounding.
A minor
tone ½tone tone tone ½tone tone tone
Minor keys are sad sounding.
C Major
A minor
The easiest scales are C major and A minor.
C major and A minor don't have any sharps of fats.
Finger: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5
Try to play these scales on a keyboard (real or online).
Can you hum along? Note the different sound
Now try this tune, do you recognise it?
C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F 1 and 2 and
Congratulations, now you can play music!
Glossary
Scale Clef Note Sharp Flat Natural Accidental Tone Beat Quarter note Eighth note Half Note Whole note Time signature Major Minor Octave Bar
C, F, E, D, A, D, C, F 1 and 2 and Resources and Activities Check out The Captain Uke's Glockenspiel Book, you should be able to play all the tunes in the book now: The Kaptain Uke Glockenspiel Book - Simple tunes for all ages Try writing your own music with MuseScore: A free program, and really easy to use: 
 The piano or keyboard is a great starting point for music, and can be easily learn try some simple tunes using two hands next. Once you know rhythm and how to read music, you can try any instrument out, contact a local music school or business to see if you can hire an instrument you might like to learn.
