BEFORE YOU START
Explain the benefits. Why learn stave notation? After all, many of your students' favourite musicians may not use it! Understanding notation helps get ‘inside’ a piece and unlock its secrets; it helps you perform a greater variety of music, compose in new ways and join orchestras or choirs that read music.
Notation is magic! Spark students' enthusiasm with an activity that shows how dots on a stave can magically become music. This could be a fast-paced introductory composing task where you perform their one-bar, pitch-only sketches.
Make it fun. Students learn best when they are enjoying a task. Get creative! Use engaging visual stimuli, props or games. Include music-making as much as possible throughout the process.
FIRST STEPS
Begin with pitch and listening. Introduce the basic idea of moving pitch up and down on lines and in spaces. Make sure students connect symbol and sound. Can they hear the pitch go up as the notes rise or a sharp is added?
Make use of voices. The voice is the most immediate and accessible tool you have to make music. Use group singing to demonstrate notation of melody.
Start narrow. Begin with three stave lines only to represent a triad (low-middle-high). This becomes a G major triad (G-B-D). Include spaces to create a five-note scale (G-A-B-C-D). After you've done some notating with this scale (for example, Ode to Joy), add the line above and below and you have a treble-clef stave. Add two lines above, you have the bass-clef stave.
Don't forget the clef classics. Mnemonics remain a great tool (FACE, Every Good Boy etc.). Focus on one clef at a time. Make sure the treble clef is secure and fluent first.
MOVING ON TO RHYTHM
Delay rhythm. Notating rhythm is the hardest aspect (pop vocals are a particular minefield!). Leave this until later down the line.
Begin binary. Use binary values at first – long/short, minim/crotchet, onbeat/offbeat – then gradually add complexity (dotted notes, etc.). Students often respond well to the mathematics of rhythm notation (dividing by half; time signatures working like fractions).
Be open to other influences. Guitar tab or other notation traditions can be a good connection and complement to stave notation. Encourage a blend if appropriate – for example, notated treble-clef melody alongside chord symbols.
WORKING WITH DAWS
Highlight similarities. MIDI tracks on sequencing software involve a form of notation. Different tracks correspond to the different staves of a score; scrolling pitches and rhythm lengths are usually presented in a similar way to stave notation.
Use score converters wisely. If your workstation software can convert to score, be aware that this may result in messy or confusing notation (e.g. extreme registers, outlandish rhythms). It can still be a good starting point, showing how stave notation can depict sounds in a different way.
Connect to the grid. Sequencing grid lines helps visualise beats, bars and rhythms. Even audio waveforms ‘notate’ the sound visually. Use this to explain barlines and calculate note lengths in a score.
