- We have seen that a head of a note is written on a stave (or staff) to indicate its pitch (high or low).
- Notes that are next to each other vertically on the stave will normally sound as though they are next to each other in pitch.
You can click on any note head on this page to hear the note played (see midi comments).
- A set of notes that are all consecutive, going up or down, is called a scale (the examples below are all "major" scales) and you will see that the notes occupy each possible slot on the stave. The notes are read from left to right:
click to hear this ascending scale:
- Notice that if two notes are vertically next to each other, one must be in a space and the other must be on the line above or below it
click to hear this descending scale:
- The eight notes of a scale like this make up an octave:
- We say there is an octave between the top and bottom notes;
- If you click the top and the bottom notes, they should sound similar to each other;
- This is because the frequency of one is twice the frequency of the other;
- Click one and sing the note, then carry on singing it while you click the other.
- On this page I have given versions of the exercise for lower voices, but in future ones I won't.
- Knowing what octaves sound like is very useful in sight-reading.
- In order do the exercises below, you must be totally familiar with the sound of both these scales;
- Try singing along with each of them until you can sing them confidently without the music playing
(here are versions for men's voices: ascending and descending).
- Please read these comments about how to sing exercises and the use of midi.
- If you have problems singing the notes that you hear, go to the reproduce a note page.
- If you have trouble getting exactly the right notes, try singing it very slowly, a note at a time, clicking each note in turn. First click before you sing each note, and gradually work towards only clicking after you sing each note.
- We can now start to build up a simple tune from notes which just move in single steps, either up or down:
click to hear this simple tune
- Here's the version for men's voices
- Notice that there are two notes which are the same as each other (the 7th and 8th notes), so the same note should be heard twice.
- Listen to it again if you didn't notice this.
- You might find it helpful to describe this simple tune just in terms of its movement:
"SUUDUUDSDD" where "S" means Start or Same, "U" means Up and "D" means Down.
- This helps highlight the patterns:
- Notes 1-4 have the same relationship to each other as notes 4-7;
- The last three notes (8-10) are the same as the first three, but backwards.
- Music is full of patterns, and when you recognise them, it should help you sing the tune.
- Now try singing along with the simple tune above, looking at each note as you sing it.
- Again, please read these comments about how to sing exercises and the use of midi if you have not already done so.
- Try to get used to the gaps between the consecutive notes, and what it feels like to go up one step, and down one step.
- Also notice that the tune feels as though it wants to get back to the note it started on.
- If it doesn't you may not be hearing or singing the scale correctly yet.
- When you have got the hang of singing with the music, try singing it without the music.
- Play yourself the first note by clicking on the first note, then sing the next and the next, and so on.
- Follow each note with your eyes as you doing it, and if you are unsure at any point, click on the note to check.
- If you are confident with the above, try the other exercises below.
click to hear this tune 
- Here's the version for men's voices.
- There is a pattern in this tune, although perhaps not quite as obvious:
- SUUSUDDSD - notes 1-4 have the same relationship to each other as 5-8 but upside-down.
click to hear this tune 
- Here's the version for men's voices.
- Notice the very clear pattern in this tune - SUUUDUUUDDDDD, it should make it easier to sing.
For more details on note position, see Basic Music Theory - stave, Basic Music Theory - note pitch, and Basic Music Theory - scale.
If you have any questions or comments, please email me.
