Part 1 (2/2)

4. Notes of small denomination (eighths and smaller) are often written in groups of two or more, all stems in the group being then connected by _one cross-stroke_. In such a case all the stems must of course be turned the same way, the direction being determined by the position of the majority of note-heads in the group. Notes thus _stroked_ may be of the same or of different denomination. See Fig. 4.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 4.]

In vocal music notes are never thus stroked when a syllable is given to each note. (See p. 19, Sec. 55, C.)

5. _Rests_, like notes, are best made with a heavy pen stroke or by using a piece of chalk on its side. (See note under Sec. 1.) The double-whole rest, whole rest, and half rest occupy the third s.p.a.ce unless for the sake of clearness in writing two parts on the same staff they are written higher or lower. The rests of smaller denomination may be placed at any point on the staff, the hooks being always placed on the s.p.a.ces. The hook of the eighth rest is usually placed on the _third_ s.p.a.ce. Rests are sometimes dotted, but are never tied.

6. The _G clef_ should be begun at the second line rather than below the staff. Experiments have shown clearly that beginners learn to make it most easily in this way, and the process may be further simplified by dividing it into two parts, thus, [Ill.u.s.tration]. The descending stroke crosses the ascending curve at or near the fourth line. The circular part of the curve occupies approximately the first and second s.p.a.ces.

7. The _F clef_ is made either thus, [ba.s.s clef symbol], or thus, [old ba.s.s clef symbol], the dots being placed one on either side of the fourth line of the staff, which is the particular point that the clef marks. The C _clef_ has also two forms, [C clef symbol] and [tenor clef symbol].

8. The _sharp_ is made with two light vertical strokes, and two heavy slanting ones, the slant of the latter being upward from left to right, [sharp]. The sharp should never be made thus, [Ill.u.s.tration].

The _double sharp_ is made either thus [double-sharp symbol] or [old double-sharp symbol], the first form being at present the more common.

9. The _flat_ is best made by a down stroke retraced part way up, the curve being made without lifting pen from paper. The _double flat_ consists of two flats,[3] [flat][flat]. The _natural_ or _cancel_ is made in two strokes, down-right and right-down, thus [Ill.u.s.tration].

[Footnote 3: It is to be hoped that the figure for the double-flat suggested by Mattheson (who also suggested the St. Andrew's cross ([symbol]) for the double-sharp) may some time be readopted. This figure was the Greek letter B, made thus, [Greek: b], and its use would make our notation one degree more uniform than it is at present.]

10. The _tie_ usually connects the _heads_ of notes, thus [tie symbol].

11. The _dot after a note_ always appears on a s.p.a.ce, whether the note-head is on a line or s.p.a.ce. (See Fig. 5.) In the case of a dot after a note on a line, the dot usually appears on the s.p.a.ce _above_ that line if the next note is higher in position and on the s.p.a.ce below it if the following note is lower.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 5.]

_Note._--Correct notation must be made a habit rather than a theory, and in order to form the habit of writing correctly, _drill_ is necessary. This may perhaps be best secured by asking students to write (at the board or on ruled paper) from verbal dictation, thus: Teacher says,

”Key of B[flat], three-quarter measure: First measure, DO a quarter note, RE a quarter, and MI a quarter. Second measure, SOL a quarter, LA a quarter, and SOL a quarter. Third measure, LA, TI, DO, RE, MI, eighths, stroked in pairs. Fourth measure, high DO a dotted half.” Pupils respond by writing the exercise dictated, after which mistakes in the turning of stems, etc., are corrected. The _pitch names_ may be dictated instead of the syllables if desired, and still further practice may be provided by asking that the exercise be transposed to other keys.

CHAPTER II

SYMBOLS OF MUSIC DEFINED

12. A _staff_ is a collection of parallel lines, together with the s.p.a.ces belonging to them. The modern staff has five lines and six s.p.a.ces, these being ordinarily referred to as first line, second line, third line, fourth line, and fifth line (beginning with the lowest); and s.p.a.ce below (_i.e._, s.p.a.ce below the first line), first s.p.a.ce, second s.p.a.ce, third s.p.a.ce, fourth s.p.a.ce, and s.p.a.ce above.

The definition and discussion above refer more specifically to one of the portions of the ”great staff,” the latter term being often applied to the combination of treble and ba.s.s staffs (with one leger line between) so commonly used in piano music, etc.

13. The _extent of the staff_ may be increased either above or below by the addition of short lines called _leger lines_,[4] and notes may be written on either these lines or on the s.p.a.ces above and below them.

[Footnote 4: The word _leger_ is derived from the French word _LeGER_, meaning light, and this use of the word refers to the fact that the leger lines, being added by hand, are lighter--_i.e._, less solid in color--than the printed lines of the staff itself.]

14. The lines and s.p.a.ces const.i.tuting the staff (including leger lines if any) are often referred to as _staff degrees_, _i.e._, each separate line and s.p.a.ce is considered to be ”a degree of the staff.” The tones of a scale are also sometimes referred to as ”degrees of the scale.”

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