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What is a musical note? |
Music
Do you like to sing? Do you play a musical instrument? Each time you sing a song or play your favorite tune, you are experiencing musical notes! A note shows us the pitch of a musical sound -- how high or low the sound is. The note also tells us how long the sound lasts.
When you look at sheet music—the written music printed on sheets of paper—you will notice a group of horizontal (sideways) lines called a staff. The musical notes are shown by ovals placed on the staff. The higher the note appears on the staff, the higher the pitch it stands for.
Pitches are named for the letters in the musical alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Just like knowing the letters of the alphabet can help you read a book, knowing the letters of the pitches can help you read and play the notes in a piece of music! Now that’s music to your ears AND your eyes!
Notes look different depending on how long they last. For example, a whole note is an oval with an empty middle. A half note looks like a whole note, except it has a vertical (up and down) line attached to it. A half note is played half as long as a whole note. A quarter note is a filled-in oval with a vertical line attached to it. It is played half as long as a half note!
Now it’s your turn to try drawing the notes! Use a piece of sheet music for inspiration, and ask a friend or a grown-up to help you find examples of whole notes, half notes and quarter notes. For a bonus challenge, see if you can find eighth notes and sixteenth notes!
If
you can draw ovals and lines, then you can draw notes! And if you’re
able to draw the notes, you’ll be able to show others how to play YOUR
music if you write songs one day!
