The Three Four Time Signature
This is the three four time signature. It tells you there are three beats in each bar. There are three quarter notes in a bar of ^ time. Three four time is also known as waltz time.
Time signatures always come after the clef. The top number indicates the number of beats per bar and the bottom number indicates the length of each beat.
The Dotted Half Note
This is a dotted half note. It lasts for three beats. One dotted half note makes one bar of music in ^ time.
A dot written after a note extends its value by half.
This song has dotted half notes in the left hand part. Once again, the counting numbers refer to the melody (right hand part). From this point on, all counting numbers will refer to the melody. The left hand part is the accompaniment to the melody.
Legato
The next song contains two curved lines called slurs. A slur indicates that the notes written above (or sometimes below it) should be played legato. Legato means to play the notes smoothly, so that they sound connected to each other. To play notes legato, keep your finger on the key until you have started to play the next key.
This song has dotted half notes in both the left hand part and the right hand part. Play the melody legato.
Know Your Keyboards…
Keytar
The Keytar is an unusual hybrid instrument, utilizing design elements from both keyboards and guitars. It is basically a light-weight keyboard which can be slung over the shoulder like a guitar while still retaining the playing characteristics of a keyboard. In most designs, like the Roland AX-7 (pictured), the "neck" of the Keytar contains controls for pitch bend, sustain and modulation.
The Tie
A tie is a curved line that connects two notes with the same position on the staff. A tie tells you to play the first note only, and to hold it for the length of both notes.
Play the C note and chord and hold them for six beats.
This song was written by Johann Strauss, who wrote some of the most famous waltzes. In the melody, a tie is used between bars 15 and 16 (two E notes), and between bars 31 and 32 (two F notes). The tie is also used for the chords in these bars. Do not confuse the tie with the legato slur introduced in the previous section.
Know Your Keyboards…
Korg OASYS
The Korg OASYS is a high-end software-based workstation synthesizer which contains features more common to a personal computer (PC) than your average electronic keyboard, such as a Pentium processor chip, internal hard disk and large LCD touch screen. It uses highly advanced synthesizer technology to provide almost limitless capabilities in the realm of sound production, making this keyboard very popular for use in the recording studio as well as live performance.
