What we call “The Major Scale” is actually one of many major scales. This one, also called the “natural” or “Ionian” major scale, is one of the “diatonic scales”. All diatonic scales are seven notes, octave repeating, with 5 whole steps and 2 half steps for each octave. Half steps are always separated by either 2 or 3 whole steps. Even our modern keyboard is laid out with the patterns of the diatonic scales. We’ll see that in a moment.

The intervals for the major scale are whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.You will usually see that written as W-W-H-W-W-W-H. Whole steps are two tone intervals. Half steps are single tone intervals.

Let’s look at the major scale (below) on the keyboard beginning with C.

Note that from C to D we skip the C# tone. A two tone interval is a whole step. Next, from D to E we also take a whole step. E to F is a single tone interval – a half step. F to G is another whole step, as is G to A and A to B. From B to C is another half step.

We mentioned before that the modern keyboard is laid out to account for diatonic (7 note) scales and the corresponding whole and half steps. Looking at the keys from C to E, you can see the interposed black keys. As you skip those tones you take whole steps.

Looking now at the keys from F to B, you will see 3 black keys interposed. Those three represent the 3 whole steps we take from F to G, from G to A and from A to B. Thus, even our modern keyboard accounts for the patterns of whole and half steps that are the key to diatonic scales.

Next up, we’ll take this major scale and find its relative minor.

In our first time signature example, we showed 3/4 time and showed that it takes 3 quarter notes to fill a bar. You can see that example again, below.

But, what if your song uses many kinds of notes? How much time would a whole note get? Or an eighth note? The time signature still tells us how many of each kind, although a bit of math is needed to make sense of it. For instance, 3 quarter notes are needed to fill a bar in 3/4 time. So, how many eighths?

In the example below, the second bar shows eighth notes. If 3 quarter notes fill a bar, it takes 6 eighth notes. An eighth note is half of a quarter note in duration because an eighth is half of a quarter. In the third bar, we show a whole note. From our discussion of notes you should remember that a whole note fills a measure. In this case, the whole note is equal to 3 quarter notes.

The math works the same for any time signature. A whole note fills a bar. A half note is half the duration of a whole note. A quarter note is half of that again, and so on.

In the example below, the first bar is filled with a whole note. In 4/4 time, a whole note is equal to 4 quarter notes, because 4 quarter notes is what it takes to fill a measure. Half notes are twice the size of quarter notes. You need only two of them to fill a bar, and you can see that in the second measure. You can see the 4 quater notes in the 3rd measure, and in the 4th bar we show eighth notes. An eighth note is half the duration of a quarter note, so how many eighth notes to fill a bar in 4/4 time?

Time signatures tell us how many (top number) of what kind of note (bottom number) it takes to fill a measure. When using notes other than the kind shown in the bottom number, it is simple math that tells us how many of each kind we might need.

Next, as our exploration of music theory continues, we’ll start looking at scales.  

Let’s take a look at 6/8 time. Remembering that the top number tells us how many and the bottom tells us what kind, we can see that it takes 6 eighth notes to fill a bar. You can see that below where eighth notes in 2 paris of 3 each fill each measure.

When we pat our foot or clap our hands with music, we keep the “beat” or “pulse”. We often feel or recognize that some beats have emphasis. With 4/4 time we easily get the idea of the 1st beat getting emphasis. We might write that as One, two, three, four, One, two, three, four… where the “One” is capitalized to show that it gets emphasis.

With 6/8 time, we can do the same thing. One, two, three, four, five, six, One, two, three, four, five, six… What differentiates 6/8 from 3/4 time is that the 4th beat in 6/8 time is not emphasized. You can hear 6/8 time in the classic rock song “Lights” from Journey, below.

As you listen, count along and feel the 6/8 time. Note that the 4th beat gets no particular emphasis.

Next up, we’ll take some of the time signatures we’ve already shown and add a variety of notes of different kinds to show how their duration is controlled by the time signature.

So, what is that they time signatures tell you? They tell you how many (top number) of what kind of note (bottom number) fills a measure. The top number tells you how many. The second number tells you what kind.

Below you can see a couple of measures in 3/4 time. The top number tells us how many. The bottom number tells us what kind. So, here we need 3 quarter notes to fill a measure.

The top number, telling us how many notes (of a kind) we need to fill the measure, also tells us something about the beat. 3/4 time will have 3 beats per measure. When you count 3/4 times, you’ll hear a pattern: One two three, One two three, One two three, One two three… An example of 3/4 time would be Jimi Hendrix “Manic Depression”. If you listen, you’ll hear the “beat” reset, or start again, after 3 beats. Tap your foot to it, count it out loud. You’ll hear it, and 3/4 time will be easy for you to recognize, read and play.

In our first example, with all quarter notes, it’s easy to see what’s going on. But, what if we aren’t playing quarter notes? What if we are playing eighth notes instead? Remember that an eighth note gets half the time of a quarter note. That means 2 eighth notes are equal to 1 quarter note. In 3/4 time, 6 eighth notes would be needed to fill a measure. You can see that depicted below, where eighth notes fill the measures. It takes 2 eighth notes for every quarter note we used before.

Let’s look now at 4/4 time. Remember, the top number tells us how many notes and the bottom tells us waht kind. So, 4 quarter notes fill a measure in 4/4 time. This is shown in the first measure of the example below. The second measure shows us that 8 eighth notes (each with half the duration of a quarter note) are needed to fill the measure.

4/4 time is probably the most recognizable. We tap our toes to the familiar One two three four, One two three four… and can easily count in this time. More complex time signatures do exist and we will look at a few of them in our next article.

We mentioned “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” in the last article, Understanding Notes, and we’ll use it again here to tie together the idea of notes and measures. Below you can see the first two measures of the song. Several concepts we’ve discussed already can be seen here. Notice the 4 quarter notes, 1 per beat, that make up the first measure. Also notice the second measure where 2 quarter notes (1per beat) and a half note (lasting 2 beats) add up to the 4 beats of the measure.

You should also notice the treble clef with its swirl wrapped around the 2nd line from the bottom to tell us that line represents the note G. You will also notice short ledger lines for the notes below the staff, which help us to see how those notes relate to the pattern, A to G. If the 2nd line from the bottom is G, then the bottom line must be E, and the note on the ledger line beneath E must be C. You can see this is fact by writing the notes into the lines and spaces as we have below.

Next we’ll take a look at time signatures and how they relate to the beats of the measure and duration of notes. But, first, it couldn’t hurt to actually read the song, shown below. Knowing the tune – and who doesn’t? – should help you to understand the visual depiction of the notes and their duration. Quarter notes sound for one beat. Half notes sound for 2 beats. And, with the lines and spaces representing the notes to be played, you should be able to read – and play! – “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” with no problems at all.

Credit where credit is due: the following is from Wikipedia.

“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” is a popular English nursery rhyme. The lyrics are from an early nineteenth-century English poem, “The Star” by Jane Taylor. The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery, a collection of poems by Taylor and her sister Ann. It is sung to the tune of the French melody “Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman”, which was published in 1761 and later arranged by Mozart for a famous set of variations.[1] The English lyrics have five stanzas, although only the first is widely known. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 7666.

You can find the complete lyrics here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkle_Twinkle_Little_Star

Starting with notes, let’s look at some of the different notes (below) and learn what they mean. These are the ones we’ll cover for now. And, if you aren’t clear about measures, just think of the repeating 3 or 4 beat patterns you hear.   

This is a whole note (left). It has an oval body outline with no stem. It’s called a whole note because its duration is equal to the time of the mearure – that is, it sounds out for the whole measure. So, if a measure has 4 beats, the whole note will sound for 4 beats. 

This one is called a half note (left) and looks like a whole note with a stem. Just as the whole note will sound for the whole measure, a half note will sound for half of the measure. So, if the measure is 4 beats, the half note will sound for 2 beats.

A quarter note looks like a half note with the body filled in. A quarter note will sound for 1 quarter of the measure. So, if the measure is 4 beats, the quarter note will sound for 1 beat. Quarter notes are the notes you hear in melodies like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, where you hear a note on every beat.  

The eighth note looks like a quarter note with a flag. For every flag that you see (as some notes will have more than one) you can divide the apparent value of the note in half. A quarter note with a flag is divided in half making it an eighth note. It will sound for 1 eighth of the measure. So, if there are 4 beats in the measure, the eighth note will sound for only half of one beat. In a series of notes, you would hear 2 eighth notes in 1 beat.

The sixteenth note, which has 2 flags, is a quarter note divided in half and then divided in half again. A sixteenth note will sound for 1 sixteenth of the measure. So, if the measure has 4 beats, the sixteenth note will sound for only 1 fourth of 1 beat. In a series of notes, you would hear 4 sixteenth notes in a single beat.

Now that we know what the different notes signify, next we’ll take a look at measures and time.

Here’s a staff. You can see 5 lines with four spaces in between. The lines and spaces (9 in all) represent 9 notes. Which notes are represented is indicated by a “clef”. We’ll see both kinds of “clefs” next.

The treble clef is shown here on the left. To the right is the bass clef. The clefs will tell us what notes are respresented by the lines and spaces.

When written onto the staff as it is below, the swirling treble clef “circles” the note G. For that reason, it is sometimes called the “G clef”. The line inside the cirlce of the clef represents the note G. The other notes shown here follow the A to G pattern (where there is no “H”) beginning with the G indicated by the clef and ending on G one octave higher. We’ll see much more about notes later on. 

 The bass clef doesn’t swirl, but it does frame a line between its dots. The note represented by that line is F, so the bass clef is sometimes called the “F clef”. Below you can see the dots are around a line that we know represents the F note. The other notes shown follow the A to G pattern from F up to F one octave higher. 

In this next example, the G clef is one line higher than we saw above. You’ll see this most frequently when dealing with music notation for guitar parts. The reason for a higher location for the G note is so that the complete range of the guitar be be shown on a single staff.

And finally, this one is called the Grand Staff and includes two sets of staff lines with both the treble and bass clefs shown. Note that a line between them connects the two by the note C – commonly called Middle C, because it is the mid point between the treble staff and bass staff.

In some of the examples above, and in the one below, you can see that some of the notes fall outside of the staff lines. Where that happens, short ledger lines are drawn to indicated the position of the notes releative to the staff lines. The A to G pattern is maintained whether notes fall above or below staff lines.

 In summary, the staff is lines and spaces that represent notes. The clef tells us which notes are represented. When notes fall outside of the staff lines, ledger lines are added to maintain the relationship between notes.

Next, we’ll get a closer look at Notes, Measures and Time.

Knowing a little music theory never hurt anyone, and communicating your ideas will be greatly enhanced if you can read and write in music notation.

To help you get started with that, we’re presenting a series of short articles with very fine focus on different aspects of the basics of music notation and theory. 

Part One: Understanding the Staff, Clefs and Lines. Part Two: Notes

A big part of the appeal of Bob Dylan comes from the fact that Dylan himself is emotionally invested in the words he brings to song. He believes in his message, even if that message is difficult to hear and even if it is challenging to the culture of the day – as indeed much of it was in the 1960s and 1970s.

Dylan has written more than 600 songs with subjects as diverse as love and racial intolerance. With so many titles to his credit, any summary of his style would be overly brief. One thing we can say is that Dylan was prolific. If there’s a lesson in that it’s one we’ve heard before: Write often. Dylan did.

One of the tools of the trade that Dylan used to great effect is the rhetorical question. Frequently, and most usually when challenging the cultural conscience, Dylan asked “What do you think about that?” As simple as it sounds, by posing the questions he asked us over the years, Dylan got us thinking beyond our immediate selves – got us thinking about the world we share, those with whom we share it  - and whether “we” collectively couldn’t do better.

In 1962′s “Oxford Town” he paints a scene and asks for our thoughts. “He come in to the door, he couldn’t get in. All because of the color of his skin. What do you think about that, my friend?” We know that Dylan has feelings about it. He cared enough to write and sing about it. When he asks for our thoughts, he is asking us to be better than the cultural conscience – and perhaps better than ourselves.

The song “Blowin in the Wind” uses a series questions with answers that are drifting around us – just out of reach – carried to us and then carried away… sometimes before we even notice. The point to the song isn’t to answer the questions – or even to guide anyone to the answer. Rather, the song succeeds when the question is noticed.

When we take it in and think about where the answers are, what the answers are, the song has accomplished Dylan’s goal.

Whether or not you can read and write music, you can write songs. A great many people write songs without knowing
how to read (or write) any music whatsoever. But, it could become a problem if you need to communicate what you’ve written.
If you don’t have some way to show others what you’ve created, how could anyone else learn it?

Of course, if you can play and sing your own songs, you can teach them to others. If you don’t write music, you won’t have many other options when it’s time to collaborate. For instance, how would you even explain the pace of the song? Is it fast? Is it slow? The only way to show them is to how them.

For those who play guitar and bass, tablature notation is an alternative to music notation. With guitar tablature, the lines of the staff represent the strings of the instrument. To indicate notes played, the number of the fret (beginning from 0 meaning open) is written on the line of the string that the note is played on. Easier to learn than music notation, tablature has become a very popular way to represent musical ideas.

So, the short answer is no. You don’t have to read music to write songs. The long answer is, you need to be able to communicate your ideas with others, and there are alternatives depending on the instrument you play. Guitar tablature is one example, providing a standard way of demonstrating you song on a musical framework.