You will find illustrated below the different parts to notes: the STEM, the NOTE HEAD, a BEAM and FLAGS. Be sure you can draw them accurately.
Notes can represent PITCH (high and low) as we have seen by their placement on the staff in Chapter One. Notes and rests can also represent DURATION (various lengths). DURATION, then, represents the relative length of notes and rests.
Notation is almost always done for the sake of someone else. In other words, we write music down so that we may pass it on to another person. For that reason, notation must be clear and legible and the symbols must be understood so that little explanation is necessary. A few notational principles should be presented at this point.
If the note head is below the third line of the staff, the STEM is on the right side of the note head and extended upward. STEMS are usually about four lines or spaces in length. If the note head is above the third line of the staff, the STEM is of the left side of the knotted and extended downward. If the knotted is on the middle line, the STEM may extend either upward or downward, whichever looks best in the context of the music.
DRAG (Don't click) YOUR MOUSE over the next example to observe the direction of the STEMS of notes when they are placed on the staff.
