I can’t sleep today. Today I am sharing my one bedroom apartment with five grown adults, three dogs, two birds, and a guinea pig. A very cold ice storm slammed Kentucky very hard this week and a few members in my family are without power. It seems as though crews are trying very hard to restore things, but the saddest part about this storm…as well as the previous Ike storm we had is the loss of trees in our city. This has been a very hard year to be greenery. I personally think Owensboro should make a public effort this spring to replant as many trees as possible.

Okay, since my last post here a lot has changed in my life and in the world. First off, I am getting married! YAY!!!

She is a wonderful lady named Tabatha Arnold and she makes me very happy.

My last post was about Barack Obama and his loss to Hillary Clinton in some state or another…Happily we all know now that he is our next president. GOOOOO BO! These are some positive changes that have been taking place, but they have been overshadowed a great deal by many negatives. A downward spiral of the economy, unemployment increasing, homelessness on the rise, and talks about a depression. It has hit me in a very personal way.

The company I work for lost a few contracts recently and now I am only getting partial hours. There goes my ability to save for a nice honeymoon. Money issues can add stress to any relationship but I have been fortunate to have a fiance that isn’t into that.

It has also been an interesting year for entertainment. “The Dark Knight” has won some major awards and is in line for an Oscar. this of course is well deserved for the performance of the late Heath Ledger. I will have to write a more detailed post about cinema this year as it has also had some crap for films.

I have begun work on writing a new album and this time I am notating it in Finale. I have some work up on myspace. www.myspace.com/rijuco

Hopefully it won’t be months before I write again. TA TA FOR NOW!

Tonight Barack Obama lost Pennsylvania to Hillary Clinton by a 10 point spread. I find it interesting, however, that the majority of voters for Hillary are uneducated, and more conservative.

Would it then be fair to say that the uneducated are not doing their research, or that they don’t know how to do research? They are uneducated after all, and therefore more prone to persuasion.

I am an Obama supporter because I believe he is right in wanting to do something about lobbyists. I also believe that we need to unite republicans with us, while Hillary believes you have to battle them.

Overall…tough loss tonight.

The Following is a staff used in music notation. Notice that it contains 5 lines and 4 spaces in which notes are drawn to create literature that a musicians interprets into pitch.

If you tilt an image of a piano’s keyboard sideways, you will notice that each white note on the keyboard represents a note on a line or space on the staff. The following image will demonstrate:

Next we have clefs:

There are several clefs to choose from, so which do we choose to use?
The answer lies in the sound, pitch, and timbre in which you wish to create. The following Clefs are in order from the highest pitch to lowest pitch.

Soprano Clef
Mezzo Soprano Clef
Alto Clef
Tenor Clef
Baritone Clef
Bass Clef

The most common clefs used today however are Treble and Bass clef. Occasionally you may see tenor or alto clef.

Although there are six clefs listed, there are three clef designs used today. They are:

Treble Clef:

The Treble Clef is also called the G Clef. This is because it curves to make a circle around the line where G note is placed. It also resembles a “G”.

Bass Clef:

This is also called the F Clef. This is because the dots are placed directly above and below the F note on the staff. It also resembles an “F” if the dots are connected to the main portion of the curve.

Movable Clef: (used for Tenor, Alto, Mezzo-soprano, Soprano, and Baritone Clefs)

The previous is called the Movable Clef because it can be placed on different places on the staff to decide a point for middle C. It resembles the letter B, or sometimes K. It can also look like the number 13.

This concludes the first lesson in the music theory series. Next post will contain:

* The Grand Staff
* Note Placement on the Staves
* Simple Note Duration.

Music Theory: Lesson 1

Created by
Richard Collins

Richard Studied at Murray State University under professors Ray Conklin, Lloyd Bone, and Todd Hill. He attended master classes with Steven Meade and specialized in low brass.

This series is based on information learned during his studies.

For additional information or answers to questions please contact:
Rijuco@gmail.com

Other resources are available on the web at:
www.musictheory.net
www.murraystate.edu/music
www.richardcollins.wordpress.com