Grammar of Music

Path

What to study before Articulation and dynamics

How a note is attacked and how loudly — the layer of the score that is neither pitch nor duration. Below, the concepts that come before, in the order in which one explains the next. Signed in, you see the same path minus what you already hold: your path.

  1. Notes and semitones

    The seven letter names, the accidentals that alter them, and the semitone as the system's smallest step.

    Level 0lesson Notes have names, and the names have a rule (First steps in theory)

  2. Staff notation

    Five lines, four spaces, and a clef that decides which pitch each position stands for.

    Level 0lesson Five lines and a starting point (Reading music)

  3. Articulation and dynamics

    How a note is attacked and how loudly — the layer of the score that is neither pitch nor duration.

    Level 1lesson How, and how loudly (Reading music)