Apple GarageBand '08 - Manual (Page 55)

Chapter 7 Tutorial 5: Working with Music Notation 55
 Rests: When you are reading music notation while playing, it is as important to
know the space between notes as the notes themselves. The silences between notes
are shown by rests. Rests, like notes, have different symbols for different lengths of
time, and shorter rests use flags.
Each rest shown below is half as long as the rest to its left (from left to right, the rests
are half rest, quarter rest, eighth rest, and sixteenth rest).
 Staves: The set of five horizontal lines on which the notes appear is called a staff (the
plural is staves). The lines of the staff let you see the pitch of the notes from high to
low, like a grid. By default, GarageBand shows you two staves, similar to piano
notation. This format shows a range of over four octaves, with middle C in the center
(between the two staves). Most instruments and voices, except for the lowest bass
instruments, fall in this range. You can change notation view to show only a single
staff.
 Clefs: The symbol at the left edge of each staff is called a clef. Clefs indicate the
range of notes that the lines of the staff display. The staves in notation view use the
two most common clefs, the treble and bass clef. You can change notation view to
show a single clef, either treble or bass.
 Key signs: If the project is in a key other than C, the sharps or flats in the key appear
between the clef and the time signature. Sharps are raised a semitone above the
natural note (so, for instance, C#–“C sharp”–is a semitone higher than C), and flats are
lowered a semitone (so Bb–”B flat”–is a semitone lower than B). The symbols for
sharps and flats are shown below, followed by the “natural” symbol that cancels a
sharp or flat.
 Bar lines: The vertical lines extending through both staves show the beginning of
each measure (measures are also called bars).