Music notation: A South African guide

Music notation: a South African guide presents a new and uniquely South African approach to learning about staff notation - especially for musicians who are educated in the tonic solfa system. As they work through the book, learners build up an understanding of each aspect of notation by experiencing it as music. Tonic solfa is used in the earlier chapters to help learners relate the sounds to the concepts. In addition, the free CD offers 99 music clips played on a keyboard, illustrating some of the examples of notation given in the book. The book is aimed at mature school pupils and adult learners whose first language may not be English. However, it will be useful to students of music from any sector of society, whether they are enrolled in a formal course or want to find out more on their own. Each chapter is devoted to particular aspects of notation. Most of the chapters are built around a piece of music generally familiar to South Africans. Because South Africa has a strong vocal and choral culture, examples are often drawn from the choral repertory. The book and CD include many examples of South African music, as well as samplings of classical western music from all eras, and jazz. Examples and exercises are drawn from this rich representation, and by means of self tests learners steadily become confident in reading and writing music in staff notation. They will also build up a strong knowledge of how music works, by seeing the structures of a wide range of music from diverse cultures in South Africa.

Table of Contents:
Tonic solfa; from tonic solfa to staff notation; the piano keyboard; rhythm and the extended staff; dotted crotchets and the bass clef; time signatures, rests, and the grand staff; 4/4 time and transcription; major keys and aural exercises; G major and F major; rhythms with a jazz feel; African music and Western staff notation; Western melody, expression, and 3/4 time; African melody and Western notation; accidentals, semitones and tones; grouping notes; more major keys, and expression marks; B-flat major and a major; triplets, scale writing, and 6/8 time; the minor key, 9/8, and 12/8; modulation, and the minor key; cycle of fifths; diatonic intervals; chromatic intervals; cyclic form in folk music and jazz; African cyclic form; triads and chords; modes in Western and African music; modes in art music, folksong and jazz; introduction to basic harmony; cadences in major and minor keys.

About the Author :
Christine Lucia retired from Wits University in 2007 and is now Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University. She is the author of The World of South African Music: A Reader (2005)