Basically, Music (a class on music basics) Class 1: Staffs, Voices, Keys and Shaped Notes In church hymnals there are typically two staffs. Each staff consists of 5 lines and four spaces. Where a note is placed on the staff designates its pitch. Pitch is stated by a letter designator of A, B, C, D, E, F and G. The top staff holds the notes for women’s voices and is know as the Treble Staff and uses the symbol  call the ‘Treble’ or ‘G’ clef. called the ‘G’ clef because the swirl designates where the note ‘G’ is located on the staff

For choral and church music there a typically two sets of notes displayed on this staff, the top notes are sung by women’s higher voices called Sopranos. This line of notes is also called the ”lead” or “melody” although there are times when the melody is given to one of the other voices. The lower notes are sung by the women’s lower voices called the Altos and comprises of one of the three harmony voices used in church music. top notes are sung by the Soprano or lead (melody) bottom notes are sung by the Altos sometimes the Soprano and Alto sing the same notes (pitch) 20 - We Worship and Adore You Lamb of God

The bottom staff holds the notes for men’s voices and is know as the Bass Staff and uses the symbol   call the ‘Bass’ or ‘F’ clef. called the ‘F’ clef because the two dots surround where the note ‘F’ is located on the staff

There are also two sets of notes displayed on this staff, the top notes are sung by men’s higher voices called Tenors. The lower notes are sung by men’s lower voices called the Basses and comprises of two of the harmony voices used in church music. top notes are sung by the Tenors bottom notes are sung by the Basses sometimes the Tenor and Bass sing the same notes (pitch) 20 - We Worship and Adore You 96 - I Stand In Awe

There are times when all four voices sing the same note (but not pitch), this is singing in Unison I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger

ledger line in the Tenor voice Not all notes in a song can be contained within the staff. Notes that are put above or below the staff for a particular voice uses short “ledger” lines. Typically only the Altos and Tenors voices use ledger lines. ledger line in the Alto voice 72 – Blessed Be The Lord God Almighty

Typical church music today comprises of four voice groups: Bass, Tenor, Alto and Soprano. The voice you sing depends mostly on the comfortable range of your voice.

spaces are F-A-C-E and is easily be remembered by the spelling of “face” lines are E-G-B-D-F and is easily remembered by “Every Good Boy Does Fine” spaces are A-C-E-G and is easily be remembered by “All Cows Eat Grass” lines are G-B-D-F-A and is easily remembered by “Good Boys Do Fine Always”

When songs are written, the author will compose it in a key signature. The key chosen is more a matter of the pitch-level than anything else, in other words, is it sung in a high pitch or low pitch. A couple of examples is He Is Able (213) which is pitched in a lower key compared to Have You Seen Jesus My Lord? (214). Key signatures are sort of relative in some congregations where the worship leaders don’t always “pitch” the song in the written key, but whether it is in the right key or not doesn’t make the song sound different or weird. It will sound the same but only at a higher or lower pitch. Songs we sing in church today are written in one of two types of key signatures, major and minor. The difference is in the “steps” between the notes. Major scales are in steps of 1-1-1/ /2, minor scales steps are 1-1/ / Our “western” ears are more use to a song written in a major scale since it is more easy to learn. Minor scale songs we sing sound “unusual”, examples are Awesome God (38), Sing Hallelujah to the Lord (242), The Battle Belongs to the Lord (749), The Name of God (812) and I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger (979). Keys Signatures use the symbols called sharps or flats, a sharp (  ) will raise the pitch of the note by ½ step, a flat (  ) will lower the note by ½ step.

168 – Glory Key signatures are shown at the beginning of the song and only appear elsewhere if a key change is made. An example of a song with a key change is Glory (168). Sometimes the worship leader will change the key of a song on the last verse. It is technically called “modulate” but simply is just raising the pitch of the song. This effect is mostly done for an aesthetic reason to make the last verse “fresh”- almost like singing a new song.

Key signatures and names that are used for most of the songs in the our book.

The key signature shows which notes are to be sharp or flat throughout the song- so that they don’t have to be printed beside each note. 71 – As the Deer

Although the key signature shows what notes should be sharp or flat there are still times when the composer wants to “sharp” (  ) or “flat” (  ) a note within the music. This a note will have a sharp or flat symbol next to it. This is called an accidental We Worship and Adore You You Are My God There’s Something About That Name Sometimes a composer will want to raise or lower the pitch of a note that is affected by the key signature, a “natural” ( ) symbol is used next to the note. A natural will lower the pitch of a sharp’d note and raise the pitch of a flat’d note.

(doe-ray-mee-fah-so-lah-tee) (doe-dee-ray-ree-mee-fah-fee-so-see-lah-lee-tee-doe) te (doe-tay-tee-lah-lay-so-say-fah-mee-may-ray-rah-doe) Shaped notes are used almost exclusively in church hymnals and songbooks. If you can learn the shapes and the steps between the shapes then you can sight-sing any song at any pitch.

Shaped Notes - if you look at many of the songs in our book, you will see that the parts will start on one of three notes DO – RE – MI, with the Bass line starting on DO. 577 – We Bow Down 221 – Jesus, Name Above All Names MI DO SO DO MI DO SO DO

The worship leader will sometimes sound the DO on a pitch pipe and sing DO-MI-SO- DO before starting a song. This gives all parts their starting pitch. DO – Q MI – E SO – T DO - Q DO MI SO 77 – Glorify Thy Name

Shaped Notes - if you look at many of the songs in our book, you will see that the Soprano (lead) and Bass line end on DO, while the Alto and Tenor ends on SO or MI. 577 – We Bow Down 221 – Jesus, Name Above All Names DO MI SO DO SO MI DO

448 – The Greatest Commands MI FA SO RE DO TI DO FA LA SO DO DO LA DO TI SO DO LA SO LA SO DO SO SO RE SO SO DO DO DO RE DO DO RE FA MI