A.C.E. MUSIC FANS
NOTATION GUIDE
C D E F G A B C D E F G
Notation should have been addressed in music lessons, using the popular rhymes for remembering the names of notes, like E,G,B,D,F (Every Good Boy Deserves Football) for line notes and F.A.C.E for space notes. Games like "Show Me" can be used with the notation fans, where a teacher can ask pupils to find a particular note, then when found, keep it to their chest until the teacher says "Show Me" when all the children will turn their fans to show the teacher the answer. The teacher can then show the group the right answer with the larger fan. This really helps music teachers easily identify pupils in the class who maybe need a little more help and time with their reading of notation and those who pick it up easier. When children get the hang of individual notes, games like "Find me this word" can be used where children have to spell out, using the music fans, a particular word given to them by their teacher. Words for example like: bag, dad, bad, cab, ace, dab, bee, feed, deed, fade, cage, bead, cafe and many more can be used. Children will love using the fans to find words and this all helps with speed of reading when playing musical instruments.
NOTE LENGTH GUIDE
As with notation, pupils should have a rough idea about certain notation lengths, with previous music lessons . But the fans give the children a "hands on" idea about different note length symbols. Note length in this section is based on music being in a time signature, with the top 4 meaning 4 beats per measure and the bottom 4 meaning the quarter note gets the beat. After a few lessons pupils will really get the hang of what the note length symbols look like and how long they last for. Again games can be played like "Find the note length" with the children searching the fans for a particular note length, as asked for by their teacher. Getting the children to then draw certain note length symbols on manuscript paper is a great way for children to learn about music writing and also learning about fractions in music.
A dot after a note increases its duration (length)
by half its original value
A second dot after a note takes half the value of the first dot
REST SYMBOL GUIDE
Rests in this section are based on music being in a time signature, with top 4 meaning 4 beats per measure and the bottom 4 meaning the quarter note gets the beat. A dot again in this section means exactly the same as in the note length section and increases the rest length by half its original value. A second dot after the rest takes half the value of the first dot. Again a "Find the rest length" game with the fans can make it great fun for children to learn about rests in music from an early age. With these fans, teachers are able to check the progress and understanding of every pupil, with every child showing their answer and making it easier to pinpoint pupils who need more help with their understanding of music fundamentals.
KEY SIGNATURE GUIDE
CIRCLE of FIFTHS
As with notation, note length and rest symbols, but even more so, key signature needs to have been explained in music lessons beforehand. For Key Stage 3, (even upper KS 2) The Circle of Fifths is one popular way amongst others of explaining key signatures and finding the different sharps and flats a key signature has. The fans, as an addition to your music resources, will help pupils find key signatures and the number of sharps and flats a particular key has more easily; (see below for Circle of Fifths method).
Figuring out—and remembering all of the key signatures can seem like a dizzying task. But there is a quick, easy, and foolproof way to remember how many sharps or flats to include with each key signature. This method is called The Circle of Fifths; here’s how it works.
Key Signatures with Sharps
Starting with the key of C, for every perfect fifth (seven half steps) you move up, you add one sharp. So the key of G (a perfect fifth up from C) has one sharp. The key of D (a perfect fifth up from G) has two sharps … and so on.
To figure out which sharp to add, just go down one half step from the key signature (the second note of the perfect fifth). So, starting at C, go up a perfect fifth to G. G is the key signature, and it will have one sharp. Go down one half step to F-sharp, and that is the one sharp for the key signature. So the key of G has one sharp, and it is F♯. As you move on through the circle, you just keep adding sharps. So going from G up, the perfect fifth is D—the key of D will have two sharps. Go down a half step from D to C♯, and that will be the sharp you add. So the key of D has two sharps, F♯ and C♯.
Key Signatures with Flats
The Circle of Fifths works in the other direction for flats. For every perfect fifth you move down from C, you add a flat. So the key of F (a perfect fifth down from C) has one flat. The key of B-flat (a perfect fifth down from F) has two flats, and so on.
In order to figure out the flat you will be adding, go down a whole step from the first note of the perfect fifth. So, starting at C, you go down a fifth to F; the key of F will have one flat. Go down a whole step from C—B flat—and that is the one flat for the key of F. From F, go down a perfect fifth to B flat. B flat will have two flats. Go down a whole step from F (the first note of the perfect fifth), to E flat, and that is the flat to add. So the two flats of the key of B flat are B flat and E flat.
The Diagram
The following drawing shows how all the major keys relate in The Circle of Fifths. When you move clockwise around the circle, you’re moving up through the fifths (and the sharp keys); when you move counterclockwise, you’re moving down through the fifths (and the flat keys).
All the major keys are a fifth apart in The Circle of Fifths.
The next figure shows the circle of fifths for the 15 minor keys. It works just the same as the major-key circle; move clockwise for the sharp keys, and counterclockwise for the flat keys.