Quick reference guide

Beat — the steady pulse you clap or walk to — like a heartbeat.

Rhythm — the pattern of long and short sounds that fits over the beat.

ta — one sound on a beat — a crotchet (quarter note).

ti-ti — two sounds on a beat — two beamed quavers (eighth notes).

tika-tika — four sounds on a beat — four beamed semiquavers (sixteenth notes), fast and even.

ti-tika — three sounds on a beat: long-short-short — a quaver plus two semiquavers (eighth + two sixteenths).

tika-ti — three sounds on a beat: short-short-long — two semiquavers plus a quaver (two sixteenths + eighth).

too — one sound held for two beats — a minim (half note).

rest — a beat of silence — a crotchet rest (quarter rest), counted but not played.

anacrusis — a 'pickup' — the song starts before the first strong beat, like 'Twinkle' where the first note is weak.

syncopation — rhythm that surprises the ear by stressing an off-beat — common in jazz and modern songs.

Pitch — how high or low a sound is.

do — the 'home' note — the resting place of the melody.

mi–sol — the first two pitches taught to young children (a minor third).

Pentatonic — a five-note scale (do, re, mi, sol, la) — easy and always sounds good.

Tonality — whether a piece feels 'major' (happy) or 'minor' (sad).

Staff — the five horizontal lines notes sit on.

Treble clef — the symbol at the start showing higher pitches.

Time signature — two numbers telling you the beat grouping — 4/4 means four beats per bar.

Bar line — the vertical lines that split the music into equal bars.

Note head + stem — the round dot (head) and stick (stem) show pitch and length.

Dynamics — how loud or soft the music is.

f (forte) — loud.

p (piano) — soft.

Tempo — the speed of the beat — fast, slow, or in between.

Phrase — a musical sentence, usually 4 bars long.

Canon — a round — the same melody started at different times by different groups.

Verse & chorus — repeating sections; the chorus shares the same words each time.

Kodály approach — a singing-first method that teaches rhythm names and solfa hand signs.

Prepare–present–practice — prepare, present, practice.

Singing games — playful songs (name games, passing games, circle games) that teach musical concepts through play.