License:
These lesson sheets may be freely used and distributed as long
as copyright notices on each page remain in unaltered form.
Derek Moule
Foreword
These lesson sheets are not a 'teach yourself' series. They are designed for music teachers to work
through with their students during lessons and to provide concise, simple notes to serve as a
reminder for the student of what was covered and needs to be practised for the next lesson. The
author wrote these lesson sheets as he found many tutors contained too much explanatory text,
failing to highlight clearly the main points to be practised and remembered for the next lesson and
appearing more daunting for the student to face, even if the pace of the tutor was very slow.
These lesson sheets are part of the 'Beginner Band Series'. Sheets for other instruments can be found
at www.noteburra.com .
Every effort has been made to ensure these lessons are error free, however, if you notice any errors,
or have any other comments about the lessons, please email derek@noteburra.com
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2021. All Rights Reserved.
www.noteburra.com
Lesson 1
Musical notes are named by letters from the alphabet.
..... F G A B C D E F G A B .....
Play these notes:
C - 1st position D - 6th position E - 4th position
F - 3rd position G - 1st position
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All rights reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 2
The Treble Clef
In music, notes are written on a set of 5 lines called the stave.
At the beginning of the music is a treble clef. Some other instruments use different clefs.
I have drawn a treble clef at the beginning of the stave below. Practise drawing treble clefs next
to the one I have drawn for you.
C D E F G
Here are the first notes we learn in the treble clef:
Write the slide positions underneath the notes:
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
The Slippery Slide
Mary's Sheep Played The Trombone
You are now ready to play the Easy (First Notes) level of the Musiclometer game at www.noteburra.com .
Have fun!
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 3
Rhythm
Notes also tell us how long we need to play them for:
Semibreve = 4 beats 2 2 Minim = 2 beats Crotchet = 1 beat
Try to clap these rhythms:
1.
2.
2
3.
4.
Jingle Bells
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 4
Time Signature
Music is broken into bars by barlines. The time signature at the beginning of the piece tells us
how many beats are in each bar.
44
Time signature Barline Barline
Bar 0 Bar 0 Bar
The top number of the time signature tells us how many beats in the bar. Don't worry about the
bottom number yet.
Put a note in each bar below so it has the correct number of beats:
44
43
Pop! Goes The Weasel
43
Shout: Pop!
1st position
New note to try for next lesson:
C
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 5
More Notes
New notes:
A - 4th position 2 B - 2nd position C - 1st position
You can now play a scale. Try to play the scale written below.
C D E F G A B C
Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman
Traditional French
44
Clair De Lune
Traditional
44
You are now ready to play the next level of the Musiclometer game, 'Treble Clef - One Octave',
found at www.noteburra.com
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 6
Quavers
A quaver is shorter than a crotchet. There are 2 quavers in every beat.
Quaver
2 quavers
Quaver 2 quavers 4 quavers
Try to clap these rhythms:
1.
44
2.
44
3.
44
Ten Little Indians
44
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 7
Accidentals
A sharp is slightly higher than the normal note and a flat is slightly lower. A natural just means play
the normal note (A natural is just A). Sharps, flats and naturals are all types of accidentals, like
pig, sheep and cow are all types of animals.
Sharp Flat Natural
New notes:
Underneath each note, write its name, then play the notes:
7th position 2nd position 3rd position 5th position
.......... ......... .......... ..........
An accidental only needs to be written once in each bar (once a note is made a flat, if the note
appears again it will still be a flat).
Good King Wenceslas
44
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 8
Rests
As well as having notes to play, sometimes we need silence in the music, where no notes are
played. A rest tells us not to play.
Semibreve or whole bar rest Minim rest Crotchet rest Quaver rest
Clap these rhythms:
1.
44
2.
44
3.
44
The Unexpected Rest
Derek Moule
44
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 9
Dotted notes / Anacrusis
A dot placed next to a note makes the note longer.
Fill in the blanks below:
Dotted semibreve Dotted semibreve rest
Dotted semibreve = semibreve (....... beats) + minim (....... beats) = ....... beats
Dotted minim Dotted minim rest
Dotted minim = minim (....... beats) + crotchet (....... beat) = ....... beats
Dotted crotchet Dotted crotchet rest
Dotted crotchet = ...................... + quaver
Sometimes we don't have a full bar for the first bar. The notes are taken from the first bar and
put at the end of the piece, so the first and last bar add up to the correct number of beats
in the bar. This is called an anacrusis.
Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2
Franz Liszt
4
4
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 10
Low notes
2nd position 4th position 6th position
New notes:
B A G
Barcarole
Offenbach
43
How long can you hold a note for?
Try holding each of these notes for as long as you can and write down the time you could hold it for!
..................... ....................... .......................
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 11
Key Signatures
The key signature is written on the music just after the treble clef. It can have sharps,
flats, or nothing at all.
Sharps and flats in the key signature tell us to play every one of that note as a sharp or flat.
In this key signature there is a flat sign on the B line,
so every time there is a B we will play B flat.
In the space, write the names of the sharps or flats in each key signature:
.......... ............ ................ .......................... ..................
Funeral March
Frederic Chopin
4
4
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 12
Slurs and Ties
A tie joins two notes of the same pitch together, to make one long note.
Try to play these. Be careful to count the correct rhythm!
1.
44
2.
44
A slur tells us to play the notes smoothly and can go over a few notes.
Try to play this:
44
When the Saints Go Marching In
Traditional
44
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 13
More notes
4th position 3rd position 1st position
New notes:
C sharp D E
Botany Bay
Australian Folk Tune
43
Jazzy Prelude
Derek Moule
44
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 14
Dynamics
pp Very soft
p Soft
mp Moderately soft
mf Moderately loud
f Loud
ff Very loud
The Echo
Derek Moule
44
p
p f ff
f
Crescendo Get gradually louder
Decrescendo Get gradually softer
The Build-up
Derek Moule
43
p f
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Lesson 15
Even more notes!
F - 3rd position F sharp - 2nd position G - 1st position
Trumpet Voluntary
Jeremiah Clarke
4
4
f
The challenge - 2 octave G major scale!
© Derek Moule 2010 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction permitted only by licence. Visit www.noteburra.com for more information.
Derek Moule’s Beginner Band Series
FIRST BRASS LESSONS FIRST DRUM LESSONS
Suitable for trumpet and valve treble clef 15 first lessons for aspiring percussionists!
brass band instruments (cornet, baritone etc) Simple, easy to understand layout.
FIRST FLUTE LESSONS FIRST CLARINET LESSONS
Care is taken to introduce the easiest notes Includes easy to interpret diagrams of basic
and concepts first. Includes fingering chart. fingerings. Clear, concise lessons.
AND MUCH MORE!
.
In addition to the Beginner Band Series,
Derek Moule has solos and ensembles for a
variety of instruments.
Visit www.noteburra.com for more great
sheet music, including lots of free
FIRST SAXOPHONE LESSONS downloads!
Suitable for soprano, alto, tenor and baritone
saxophones. Includes fingering chart.
ISMN: 979-0-720127-21-7
Derek Moule
www.noteburra.com
