What is a pentagram?

As they say, music is a universal language through which we can express our feelings, sensations and moods in a very pure way. Musical writing is the means by which we can create that communication and be able to share it with other musicians or the public when it is performed. Today, we will deal with the subject of one of the fundamental elements of musical composition. We will talk about what a staff is, its functionality and some of the elements that make it up, as well as knowing its origin.

To have a deeper knowledge about musical notes, you have to go back to the XNUMXth century where Odon de Cluny assigned a letter as a name to each of the musical notes. time later, Guido D'Arezzo renamed the notes with the names we know today and also perfected everything that had to do with musical writing.

We have already been seeing in different publications, that the human species since its inception has felt the need to write down each finding, experience, thought, etc. And this was not going to be less with music. Thanks to the system of musical notes in which a system of signs and symbols is collected, it is possible for us to record sounds on staves.

What is a staff or musical pattern?

the pentagram, It can also be called a musical pattern and it is the place where the different musical notes and signs must be written. The writing system that is followed is called Western musical notation. In addition to writing, music is also read.

It is made up of a total of five lines and four horizontal spaces., listed from bottom to top, between each of the lines just mentioned. Higher notes are located at the top of the staff, while low notes are at the bottom. When we find a very high or low musical note that exceeds the limits of the staff lines, both additional lines and spaces have to be used.

History and origin of the pentagram

To know the origin of the staff, we must go to the stage where the musical notes are created. At that time, the vast majority of musicians used a system of signs and symbols that were added to a text and thus represented the height of each one.

Over time, the churches began to give more importance to seeking synchronization and improvement in the melodies and songs which were performed at different events.

All this, began to develop and certain singers of the time began to use a series of lines that would make it easier for them to draw and represent height.a, in addition to adding signs indicating that the note was above the text.

It was at that moment, when the musical guidelines began to be used, it was the beginning of what we know today. These lines were added over the text that showed the song or melody. The height of the notes was represented by the distance that existed between one note and another. They realized that this was imprecise, so the decision was made to add more lines, until creating the staff that we know today.

At the end of the XNUMXth century and the beginning of the XNUMXth, Guido D'Arezzo is in charge of improving musical writing. This monk was the one who invented a musical pattern that was composed of four lines called a tetragram. With this process, it was like the representation of the height of the notes underwent an improvement. And both the coordination between compass and duration also improved.

The first appearance of a manuscript where five lines appear, was in the thirteenth century. The staff or pattern of five lines, was developed by the Italian Ugolino de Forleni. This new method was welcomed by France during the sixteenth century and later throughout Europe.

the pentagram, an analogous system could be considered with a kind of graph where the heights of the notes are represented in relation to time. The height is marked by its vertical position on the guidelines. On the other hand, the time in which each of them begins is not linked to its horizontal position, but through the musical sign chosen for each note.

What is a musical pattern for?

about the pentagram, as we have indicated in the initial section of the publication, musical signs are written that reflect the height of each of the notes. These signs can be written both above and below or within the staff.

The musical figures are the ones that represent each of the notes and are capable of indicating to the musicians or singers, the duration of each of the sounds and their location.. The head of the notes can be added to one of the lines of the staff or between them.

Musical notes when viewed on a staff, they can be drawn in three ways; on the lines, in the spaces or outside the guidelines. This makes the staff helpful to anyone who is going to interpret it.

Stave types

One very important point to keep in mind about staves is that there are different types in music. Depending on the number of instruments that participate in its interpretation, the following models can be found.

• Individual or solo staff. This type of staff is used to write the music that a musical instrument is going to play.
• System of staves. In this case, we are talking about the union of several staves using a brace located on the left side of the guidelines. This key is the one that tells us that all that set of staves must be executed simultaneously.

musical keys

Do you know what musical keys are? For those who do not know what this term means, we are talking about those symbols that are placed in the initial part of the staff and that, they indicate to us where the reference note is placed to place the others.

You can come across three different types, the treble clef, the C clef and the bass clef. and, located in seven different positions. Currently, the most common is the treble clef on the second line, the bass clef on the fourth line, and the C clef on the third and fourth lines. Depending on the range of notes of the instrument that is going to be used, the key will be different.

• The treble clef tells us where the sol note is located in the pattern of lines. High pitch.
• The key of Do tells us where Do is located on the staff. Intermediate position.
• The bass clef guides us to where Fa is located on the staff. Low pitch.

As we already know, the musical notes are written on the staff and can be placed on their lines, spaces or beyond the limits, in an ascending or descending way, and it is the musical key that indicates the order of the drawn notes.

Staff elements in a score

In a musical score, can be found with a number of different items, which are helpful in transcribing the music onto paper. To be able to interpret them, it is necessary to have some knowledge of the following elements.

• staff number: number that appears in the first measure of each of the lines.
• Keys: are the symbols that are placed at the beginning of the score to mark the location of the notes.
• compass formula: numbers in the form of a fraction that indicate the type of compass.
• bar line: line that crosses the staff perpendicularly delimiting the measures. Each of them has a different interpretation.
• Compass: rhythmic unit of music. It is represented using bar lines.
• Armor: symbols that are located between the key and the compass formula. It indicates the tonality to follow.
• Key: Appears when the score is made up of more than one staff, it groups them together.

How to learn to interpret a pentagram?

There are no tricks for it, you just have to remember that like any other sector such as science, art, design, etc., musical writing and interpretation, it is a skill that ends up being developed and mastered with a lot of dedication and discipline.

It is important that if you are really aware of knowing how to interpret a pentagram, dedicate hours and practice daily to achieve the best possible results. In addition to, supporting you in the study with professional help that will focus your knowledge and will set a series of guidelines for you to improve little by little.

A musician who cannot read a score can be considered an incomplete musician., but with due work and study you will have much greater chances of success.

Remember to practice as much as you can, and practice with different sheet music. Invest hours, but hours of quality and little by little you will see how your learning in terms of reading notes has been improving and you do it faster and faster.

Start by reading each one of the bars quietly and separately, analyze the times, the different notes and all the specifications that you find in each of the parts of the melody. You're going to spend a lot of time reading the staff, but it'll help you get going early on. Go memorizing little by little, it will make you gain ease and more if you practice it day after day.

We hope that this publication, where we have seen not only what a staff is but also its purpose and some of the elements that can appear in it, will help you to understand this topic a little better.