Ukulele For Dummies (76 page)

Appendix B

Reading Standard Musical Notation

U
kulele tab is perfectly adapted for the uke and is the quickest and simplest way to indicate what to play. But standard musical notation has one big advantage over tab: it can be played on any instrument. This asset alone means that developing at least a basic knowledge of standard notation is well worthwhile. You can then read music written for other instruments and also communicate better with other musicians.

This appendix provides a quick reference for all the basics of standard notation and how these aspects refer to the ukulele. Intended as a hands-on guide, you can refer to these pages while reading a particular piece of standard notation.

Grasping the Pitch of a Note

Musical notes are written on a
stave
: five horizontal lines (known as
ledger lines
). Notes sit on or between these lines. Each time a note moves up from a line to a space or a space to a line, you move up one letter. Musical notes go only as high as G. So after you reach G you go back to A.

The notes between the lines, from lowest to highest, are easy to remember. They spell F-A-C-E when reading upwards. Figure B-1 shows these notes (together with tab indicating their position on the ukulele).

Remembering the notes on the lines is slightly less easy: they are E-G-B-D-F (reading upwards). A useful mnemonic for remembering them is ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge'. Of course, I'm sure that you can think of other F-words that boys enjoy (such as football). These notes are shown in Figure B-2.

The bottom line of a stave is E but the ukulele can produce down to a C. To indicate the C note, you draw a line under the stave and put the C note on it. To indicate the D, you draw a note just under the stave. Figure B-3 shows these two notes.

Similarly, notes higher than those possible on the stave are indicated with additional lines drawn above the stave, as shown in Figure B-4.

The stave described here is known as a
treble clef
(indicated by the large swirly doodah at the start). A treble clef covers the higher end of the musical spectrum (like the treble knob on a stereo). In musical notation, you also see a
bass clef
, which has four horizontal lines and covers lower notes. But, being ukulele players, bass notes are far out of our range.

Coming across accidentals: Sharps, flats and naturals

Notes such as C, D, E, F and so on are known as
naturals
and can be raised or lowered by one ukulele fret through the use of
accidentals
. Two types of accidentals exist: sharps and flats.

Notes on the stave are moved up a fret when a sharp symbol (which looks like a hash) precedes them. For example, the note in the first bar of Figure B-5 is an F (E-string, first fret) with a sharp in front of it. This sharp makes the note an F
(F sharp), which you play on the E-string, second fret.

Similarly, notes on the stave are moved down one fret when a flat (which looks like an italic letter
b
) precedes them. For example, the note in the second bar of Figure B-5 is a B (A-string, second fret) with a flat in front of it. This flat makes the note a B
(B flat), which you play on the A-string, first fret.

When a sharp or flat appears before a note, it applies to that note for the rest of the bar. If you want to counter or undo a sharp or flat indication, you use a natural symbol (
). For example, the F note in bar three of Figure B-5 has a natural sign before it, and so you play a standard F (E-string, first fret).