Note

A single musical sound of a specific pitch and duration.

A note is the basic unit of music — a single sound with a specific pitch (how high or low it is) and a duration (how long it lasts). Notes are named with the letters A through G, which repeat as you move up or down, and the sharps and flats in between. In written music, a note's appearance on the staff shows its pitch, while its shape (whether the head is filled, and whether it has a stem or flags) shows its rhythmic length. Notes are the alphabet of music: strung together in time they form melodies, and stacked on top of one another they form chords and harmony.

432

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432 Academy

The Club432 musician collective

432 Academy is the learning arm of Club432 — a performing-arts collective of working musicians, producers, DJs and engineers. Our guides are written for beginners and reviewed by people who play, record and perform for a living, so the advice is what we'd tell a friend picking up the instrument, not specs copied off a box.

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