Notes and melodies

▶ Open in Aratu to hear the examples, change them and do the exercises

So far there were only drums. Now, notes. A note is written with its name and its octave: c4 is middle C on the piano. Names are letters, as in chord symbols, and the solfège names work too:

Letter	c	d	e	f	g	a	b
Solfège	do	re	mi	fa	sol	la	si

Listen to the C major scale going up:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 100
melody = | c4 d4 e4 f4 | g4 a4 b4 c5 |

A line that is not a drum line plays with a synthesizer sound. Give it any name you like: melody, flute, voice.

The octave carries over until it changes

There is no need to repeat the octave on every note: it holds until another one appears. The scale above can be written like this:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

melody = | c4 d e f | g a b c5 |

Sharps and flats

A sharp is # and a flat is b, right after the letter: f#4, bb3, eb4.

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

melody = | a3 b c#4 d | e f# g# a |

That is the A major scale.

A tune you know

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is an old tune in the public domain. Listen to its first phrase:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 100
melody = | c4 c g g | a a g _ |

The _ at the end holds the G for one more beat: a half note.

Exercises

Finish the phrase: after the two bars come f f e e | d d c _.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 100
melody = | c4 c g g | a a g _ |

See an answer

tempo: 100
melody = | c4 c g g | a a g _ | f f e e | d d c _ |

Write the C major scale going down, from C5 to C4, in two bars.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

melody = | c5 _ _ _ | c4 _ _ _ |

See an answer

melody = | c5 b4 a g | f e d c |