PIANO MUSIC THEORY

 

Time signature

The time signature of a piece of music indicates how many beats are in each bar. A time signature allows a musician to count a steady beat while playing a piece.

The time signature is written at the beginning of the . It comes after the  and key signatures.

You may find certain pieces of music have include changes to different time signatures. This will be marked on the sheet music, so always check through a piece of music to ensure you are aware of any changes of time signature it might have.

Metronome mark

A composer may include a  mark to indicate the  - how fast or slow the music should be played.

For example, the metronome mark above tells you there are 80 crotchet beats per minute.

Key signatures

The key signature tells you which notes should be played as  or  throughout a piece of music and therefore what key the piece should be played in.

The examples above show how the keys of G major and F major are represented.

You learn about four keys at National 5:

• C major
• F major
• G major
• A minor

These are only a few of the more common examples of musical keys. There are many more keys that you may be required to learn and play a piece of music in.

Accidentals

When a composer wants to include a one-off sharp or flat, or cancel one that is in the key signature, they use accidentals.

Accidentals only apply to one bar of the music, not the whole piece.

Repeat signs

A repeat sign indicates where you should repeat what you have just played.

It can indicate to play from either the beginning of the piece of music or from the previous repeat sign.

Pause

A pause sign tells you to hold the note or rest for slightly longer than its written value.

Listen to the two examples below to hear how the same notes sound without and with a pause.

Accent

An accent tells you to play each note with a little extra force.

Listen to the two examples below to hear how the same notes sound when played without and with accents.

Staccato

A dot above or below a note tells you to play it short and detached.

This should not be confused with a dot after a note which alters its value. Short, detached, jumpy notes are called staccato.

Listen to the two examples below to hear how the same notes sound when played without and with accents.

Listen to the two examples below to hear how the same notes sound when played normally and staccato.

Legato

A curved line above or below a group of notes tells you those notes should be played legato – smoothly, with no gaps between the notes.

A slur is a legato line over a few notes which means they should not be rearticulated. For example, all the notes are played with one bow movement on a string instrument or played without tonguing each note on a wind instrument.

Listen to the two examples below to hear how the same notes sound when played normally and played legato.

Tie

Not to be confused with a legato slur, a tie joins together two of the same note.

It tells you to hold the note once and hold it for the value of both, rather than playing the note twice.

Listen to the two examples below to hear how the same notes sound when played without and with a tie.

Crescendo

A crescendo tells you that your playing needs to get gradually louder over the duration of the symbol.

Diminuendo

A diminuendo means that your playing needs to get gradually quieter over the duration of the symbol.

Trill

A trill is rapidly moving between the written note and the one above.

Grace note

A grace note is played really quickly before the main note.