Apple GarageBand '09 - Manual (Page 65)

Chapter 6 Tutorial 4: Playing and Recording Software Instruments 65
 Rests: When you’re reading music notation while playing, it is just 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 score 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 score view use the two
most common clefs, the treble and bass clef. You can change score 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).