如何看懂樂譜 - 提姆·韓森：英語精讀講義

When we watch a film or a play,

當我們看電影或話劇時，

we know that the actors probably learned their lines from a script, 片語搭配

我們知道演員們可能都是從劇本上背下了台詞，

which essentially tells them what to say and when to say it. 文法

劇本本質上告訴了他們該說什麼以及什麼時候說。

A piece of written music operates on exactly the same principle. 片語搭配

寫下來的樂譜也遵循著完全相同的原理。

In a very basic sense, 表達脈絡

從最基本的層面來說，

it tells a performer what to play and when to play it.

它告訴演奏者該彈什麼以及什麼時候彈。

Aesthetically speaking, 表達脈絡

從美學角度來說，

there's a world of difference between, say, 慣用語

比如說，以下兩者有天壤之別：

Beethoven and Justin Bieber,

貝多芬和賈斯汀·比伯，

but both artists have used the same building blocks to create their music, 慣用語

但這兩位藝術家使用了相同的基本元素來創作他們的音樂，

notes.

即音符。

And although the end result can sound quite complicated, 文法

雖然最終的結果聽起來可能相當複雜，

the logic behind musical notes is actually pretty straightforward.

但音符背後的邏輯其實非常簡單明瞭。

Let's take a look at the foundational elements to music notation 片語搭配

讓我們來看看音樂記譜法的基礎元素，

and how they interact to create a work of art.

以及它們如何相互作用以創造出藝術品。

Music is written on five parallel lines that go across the page.

音樂寫在橫跨頁面的五條平行線上。

These five lines are called a staff, 文化背景

這五條線被稱為五線譜，

and a staff operates on two axes, 片語搭配

五線譜有兩個軸，

up and down and left to right.

上下軸和左右軸。

The up and down axis tells the performer the pitch of the note, 文化背景

上下軸告訴演奏者音符的音高，

or what note to play,

或者說該彈哪個音，

and the left to right axis tells the performer the rhythm of the note, 文化背景

左右軸則告訴演奏者音符的節奏，

or when to play it.

或者說什麼時候彈。

Let's start with pitch.

我們先從音高說起。

To help us out, 片語搭配

為了幫助理解，

we're going to use a piano,

我們將使用鋼琴，

but this system works for pretty much any instrument you can think of. 用詞

但這個系統幾乎適用於你能想到的任何樂器。

In the Western music tradition, 文化背景

在西方音樂傳統中，

pitches are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet, 片語搭配

音高是以字母表的前七個字母命名的，

A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

A、B、C、D、E、F 和 G。

After that, the cycle repeats itself.

在那之後，這個循環會重複。

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and so on. 片語搭配

A、B、C、D、E、F、G、A、B、C、D、E、F、G，依此類推。

But how do these pitches get their names?

但這些音高是如何得名的呢？

Well, for example,

嗯，舉個例子，

if you played an F and then played another F higher or lower on the piano, 文法

如果你在鋼琴上彈了一個 F 音，然後再彈一個更高或更低的 F 音，

you'd notice that they sound pretty similar compared to say a B.

你會發現它們聽起來非常相似，而和 B 音相比就截然不同。

Going back to the staff, 表達脈絡

回到五線譜，

every line and every space between two lines represents a separate pitch. 用詞

每一條線和兩條線之間的每一個間都代表一個獨立的音高。

If we put a note on one of these lines or in one of these spaces,

如果我們把音符放在其中一條線或其中一個間裡，

we're telling a performer to play that pitch.

我們就是在告訴演奏者彈奏那個音高。

The higher up on the staff a note is placed, 文法

音符在五線譜上的位置越高，

the higher the pitch.

音高就越高。

But there are obviously many, many more pitches than the nine that these lines and spaces give us.

但顯然，音高遠不止這些線和間給我們的九個。

A grand piano,

一架三角鋼琴，

for example,

舉例來說，

can play 88 separate notes.

可以彈出88個不同的音符。

So, how do we condense 88 notes onto a single staff? 用詞

那麼，我們如何將88個音符濃縮到一個五線譜上呢？

We use something called a clef. 片語搭配

我們使用一種叫做譜號的東西。

A clef is a weird-looking figure placed at the very beginning of the staff,

譜號是一個放在五線譜最開頭的奇怪圖形，

and it acts like a reference point 片語搭配

它就像一個參考點，

telling you that a particular line or space

告訴你某一條特定的線或間

corresponds to a specific note on your instrument. 片語搭配

對應於你樂器上的一個特定音符。

If we want to play notes that aren't on the staff,

如果我們想彈奏五線譜上沒有的音符，

we kind of cheat and draw extra little lines called ledger lines 講解

我們可以取個巧，畫出額外的短線，稱為加線，

and place the notes on them.

然後把音符放在上面。

If we have to draw so many ledger lines that it gets confusing, 文法

如果我們要畫的加線太多導致看起來很混亂，

then we need to change to a different clef.

那麼我們就需要換用不同的譜號。

As for telling a performer when to play the notes, 表達脈絡

至於告訴演奏者什麼時候彈奏音符，

two main elements control this,

有兩個主要元素控制著這一點，

the beat,

拍子，

and the rhythm.

和節奏。

The beat of a piece of music is,

一段音樂的拍子，

by itself, 片語搭配

本身來說，

kind of boring.

有些無聊。

It sounds like this.

它聽起來像這樣。

Notice that it doesn't change.

注意它是不變的。

It just plugs along quite happily. 慣用語

它只是自顧自地往前走。

It can go slow

它可以很慢，

or fast

或者很快，

or whatever you like,

或者任何你喜歡的速度，

really.

真的。

The point is that,

關鍵在於，

just like the secondhand on a clock 表達脈絡

就像時鐘上的秒針

divides 1 minute into 60 seconds,

把1分鐘分成60秒，

with each second just as long as every other second, 文法

每一秒的長度都和其他秒一樣長，

the beat divides a piece of music 片語搭配

拍子也將一段音樂分割成

into little fragments of time

一個個小的時間片段，

that are all the same length.

它們長度都一樣。

Beats.

這就是拍子。

With a steady beat as a foundation, 表達脈絡

有了穩定的拍子作為基礎，

we can start adding rhythm to our pitches,

我們就可以開始為我們的音高添加節奏，

and that's when music really starts to happen. 慣用語

這時音樂才真正開始出現。

This is a quarter note.

這是一個四分音符。

It's the most basic unit of rhythm,

它是最基本的節奏單位，

and it's worth 1 beat. 用詞

它等於1拍。

This is a half note,

這是一個二分音符，

and it's worth 2 beats.

它等於2拍。

This whole note here is worth 4 beats,

這裡的全音符等於4拍，

and these little guys are eighth notes 語氣意圖

而這些小傢伙是八分音符，

worth half a beat each.

每個等於半拍。

Great, you say. 表達脈絡

很好，你可能會說。

What does that mean?

這是什麼意思呢？

You might have noticed that across the length of a staff, 語氣意圖

你可能已經注意到，在五線譜的長度上，

there are little lines dividing it into small sections.

有些短線將其劃分成了小段落。

These are bar lines,

這些是小節線，

and we refer to each section as a bar. 片語搭配

我們把每一個段落稱為一個小節。

At the beginning of a piece of music,

在一首樂曲的開頭，

just after the clef,

就在譜號後面，

is something called the time signature, 文化背景

有一種叫做拍號的東西，

which tells the performer how many beats are in each bar. 文法

它告訴演奏者每個小節有多少拍。

This says there are two beats in each bar.

這表示每小節有兩拍。

This says there are three.

這表示有三拍。

This one four.

這個表示四拍。

And so on.

依此類推。

The bottom number tells us what kind of note is to be used as the basic unit for the beat. 文法

下面的數字告訴我們哪種音符要作為拍子的基本單位。

One corresponds to a whole note,

1 對應全音符，

two to a half note,

2 對應二分音符，

four to a quarter note,

4 對應四分音符，

and eight to an eighth note,

8 對應八分音符，

and so on.

依此類推。

So, this time signature here

所以，這裡的拍號

tells us that there are four quarter notes in each bar.

告訴我們每小節有四個四分音符。

1, 2, 3, 4,

1、2、3、4，

1, 2, 3, 4,

1、2、3、4，

and so on.

依此類推。

But like I said before, 表達脈絡

但正如我前面說過的，

if we just stick to the beat, 片語動詞

如果我們只堅持拍子，

it gets kind of boring.

就會變得有些無聊。

So, we'll replace some quarter notes with different rhythms.

所以，我們將用不同的節奏替換一些四分音符。

Notice that even though the number of notes in each bar has changed, 文法

請注意，即使每小節裡的音符數量改變了，

the total number of beats in each bar hasn't.

每小節的總拍數並沒有變。

So,

那麼，

what does our musical creation sound like?

我們的音樂創作聽起來會是什麼樣呢？

Sounds okay,

聽起來還可以，

but maybe a bit thin, right? 語氣意圖

但可能有些單薄，對吧？

Let's add another instrument with its own pitch and rhythm.

我們再加一種擁有自己音高和節奏的樂器吧。

Now, it's sounding like music.

現在，這聽起來像音樂了。

Sure, it takes some practice to get used to reading it quickly 文法

當然，要習慣快速讀譜還需要一些練習，

and playing what we see on our instrument,

並在我們的樂器上彈奏出我們看到的內容，

but with a bit of time and patience, 片語搭配

但只要多花點時間和耐心，

you could be the next Beethoven 慣用語

你可能就會成為下一個貝多芬，

or Justin Bieber.

或者是賈斯汀·比伯。