Music · Lesson 1

Exam format; staff, clefs, ledger lines, scores, notes, rests, dots, ties, keyboard and accidentals

JAMBWAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

JAMB: great staff, ledger lines, open/vocal score, C clefs alto and tenor; notes and rests and their values; keyboard and enharmonic equivalents; accidentals). WAEC/NECO Theory 1(A)(a) Notation: staff, clefs (C, G, F). Also the WAEC/NECO and JAMB examination format.

WAEC: great staff, ledger lines, open/vocal score, C clefs alto and tenor; notes and rests and their values; keyboard and enharmonic equivalents; accidentals). WAEC/NECO Theory 1(A)(a) Notation: staff, clefs (C, G, F). Also the WAEC/NECO and JAMB examination format.

NECO: great staff, ledger lines, open/vocal score, C clefs alto and tenor; notes and rests and their values; keyboard and enharmonic equivalents; accidentals). WAEC/NECO Theory 1(A)(a) Notation: staff, clefs (C, G, F). Also the WAEC/NECO and JAMB examination format.

What you will learn

Describe the WAEC/NECO and JAMB Music examinations.
Name notes on treble, bass, alto and tenor clefs, including ledger-line notes.
Explain the great staff, open score and vocal score.
State the British and American names and values of notes and rests.
Use dots, ties and slurs correctly.
Identify tones and semitones on the keyboard.
Use accidentals and give enharmonic equivalents.

Key points

Staff: five lines, four spaces, counted from the bottom.
Treble clef curls round line 2 (G4); bass clef dots around line 4 (F3).
Treble lines E G B D F, spaces F A C E; bass lines G B D F A, spaces A C E G.
Middle C: one ledger line below treble or above bass.
Alto clef: C4 on line 3 (viola); tenor clef: C4 on line 4.
Values halve: semibreve 4, minim 2, crotchet 1, quaver ½, semiquaver ¼.
Dot adds half; double dot adds half then a quarter.
Tie: same pitch, values added; slur: different pitches, smooth.
Semibreve rest hangs; minim rest sits.
E–F and B–C are natural semitones; 12 semitones in an octave.
Accidentals last to the end of the bar.
Enharmonic: same sound, different letter.

Start here: Music in WAEC, NECO and JAMB

Music is one of the few school subjects that you can examine with your ears as well as your pen. In WAEC and NECO, the examination is in three parts that must all be taken. Paper 1 is a one-hour objective test of 40 multiple-choice questions for 40 marks, drawn from the whole syllabus. Paper 2 lasts two hours: five essay-type questions are set and you answer three for 60 marks. Question 1 (theory and composition: melody writing, harmony and two-part counterpoint) and Question 2 (analysis of the prescribed set work) are compulsory. Paper 3 is practical: Paper 3A is a 45-minute aural (listening) test of seven short tests worth 50 marks, and Paper 3B is a performance test of about 30 minutes, also 50 marks, on voice or an approved instrument.

JAMB’s UTME Music paper is all objective questions on a computer. Its syllabus has five sections: A, rudiments of music; B, elementary harmony; C, history and literature of African music; D, history and literature of Western music (including forms and instruments); and E, comparative music studies (Black music in the diaspora and nationalism in Nigerian music). JAMB keeps its theory to keys of not more than two sharps or two flats, which makes it very learnable.

This course follows the order a good teacher would use. Units mu1 to mu8 build the theory (notation, time, scales, intervals, chords, cadences, harmony, melody writing, transposition and terms). Unit mu9 covers form and analysis, mu10 instruments and the voice, mu11 and mu12 Western music history, mu13 and mu14 African and Nigerian music, and mu15 the aural tests. Everything in theory rests on this first unit: if you cannot name a note instantly on any clef, every later question is slower and riskier.

How to study this subject. Read a section, then write the examples on manuscript paper. Music theory is learnt by the pencil. Sing the examples to solfa or play them on any keyboard, recorder or phone keyboard app; hearing what you write is the bridge to the aural paper.

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Practice questions

1. The G clef curls around the line for the note

G above middle C (G4)
middle C
F below middle C
A above middle C

Show answer

A: G above middle C (G4)
The treble clef fixes G4 on the second line.

2. The F clef (bass clef) places F on the

second line
third space
first line
fourth line

Show answer

D: fourth line
Its two dots surround the fourth line, F3.

3. Middle C written in the treble clef sits

in the first space
on the first ledger line above
on the first ledger line below the staff
on the first line

Show answer

C: on the first ledger line below the staff
C4 lies one ledger line below the treble staff.

4. The alto clef is a C clef with middle C on the

second space
third (middle) line
fourth line
first line

Show answer

B: third (middle) line
Alto clef: C4 on line 3; tenor clef: C4 on line 4.

5. The tenor clef places middle C on the

fourth line
third line
second line
fifth line

Show answer

A: fourth line
The tenor C clef is centred on line 4.

Key words

Staff (stave): Five lines and four spaces on which notes are written.
Clef: Sign that fixes the pitch of one line of the staff.
Great staff: Treble and bass staves joined by a brace.
Ledger line: Short line for notes above or below the staff.
Open score: One staff for each voice or instrument.
Vocal score: Voice parts in full with accompaniment reduced for piano.
Semibreve: Whole note, 4 crotchet beats.
Minim: Half note, 2 beats.
Crotchet: Quarter note, 1 beat.
Quaver: Eighth note, half a beat.
Tie: Curve joining two notes of the same pitch.
Slur: Curve over notes of different pitch: play smoothly.

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