172Music
Everyone enjoys music in some form,
whether they choose to play an instrument,
or sing, or simply listen. Music brings
people together at all sorts of events.
NOTATION
The most common way to write music today is
the five-line notation using dots, symbols, and
abbreviations. It is based on a system used by
Roman Catholic monks in the 10th century.
When you learn a musical instrument, you
learn to read music at the same time.National anthem Each country of the
world has its own cultural song, called
their national anthem. They are often
sung at important national occasions,
including sporting events.Pitch is how high or
low a note sounds.
Notes are grouped
into sets of eight,
known as an octave
and written on five
lines called a stave.The “clef ” shows
what notes are on
the stave. This is
the treble clef.The “key signature” shows
which key the music is in.The “time signature”
shows the musician the
number of beats to a bar.When notes are
next to each other
their hooks are
sometimes joined
together.The shape of each
note tells the
musician how
long to play it.The “rest” shows where the
musician should pause.Dynamic markings indicate
how loud to play the music.
“mf ” means moderately loud.The speed of the music, or “tempo” is often
written in Italian. Allegro means “quickly.”All music is divided into
equal measures, called
“bars,” each of which has
the same number of beats.TELL ME MORE...
When musicians in an orchestra
perform together, they need to make
sure they play their notes at the right
time. The conductor is the organizer
of the orchestra who directs using
visible gestures. THE SOUTH
AFRICAN national
anthem includes five
of the eleven official
national languages
including Africaans,
English, and isiZulu. THE FIRST MUSIC We know that music has been
played and enjoyed for thousands of years because ancient
CULTURE drawings have been found showing musical instruments.