Even if you’re not a reader and never plan to use standard musical notation, you will probably encounter situations in your musical experiences that call for you to communicate your musical thoughts or intentions in writing. The skills you learn in this lesson will allow you to make your charts more specific and sophisticated and will help you conquer tasks such as copying or transposing. Practice drawing the following simple symbols and you will find yourself easily and quickly writing music that is easy to read and looks like it was done by a pro!
Start by reviewing the correct way to write chord symbols. The root of the chord is the first thing that is written in a chord symbol and should be written in upper case. The chord quality (major, minor, etc.) will follow. Minor chords should be indicated by a lower case “m.” When you are notating a major triad don’t put any letters after the name – the “major” is implied. For example, the chord symbol “C” indicates a C major chord. If, however, the chord is extended (M7, M9, etc.), indicate the major quality with a capital M, the word “Major” or the abbreviation Maj.
Be sure that your upper case letters are clearly different from the lower case ones! Use a sharp, printed capital M for major chords and a rounded, lower case m for the minor ones.
Next, practice drawing the trebleclef. Make sure the lower spiral circles the second line (G) of the staff:
The key signature should appear before the time signature. Avoid having your sharps and flats look like number signs or lower case “b’s” by drawing them with a slight upward slant.
The note head should be oval, not round. Notes with a stem will have the stem pointing up if the stem is below the middle line of the staff. If the note is above the middle line of the staff, the stem will be on the left side of the note head and the stem will point downward. Practice making the stems by using one quick, confident stroke of the pen or pencil, as opposed to carefully “drawing” the line.
When making “colored in” notes (quarter, eighth, etc.), don’t make an oval and then fill it in – the notes will look messy and the process will take too long. Instead, make a diagonal line and then thicken it.
Flags (for eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc.) are always on the right side of the stem, regardless of stem direction. Two or more notes with flags may be grouped and beamed for ease of reading.
This is the way handwritten whole, half, quarter and eighth rests look. Notice that the whole rest hangs below the next-to-the-top line of the staff, whereas the half rest sits on top of the middle line of the staff.
