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Unit 3 · Reading time

Long and short

Learn how long each note lasts from its shape: a crotchet one beat, a minim two, a semibreve four, and a rest that counts, read in time with clicks. Free.

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What it teaches

Now the notes' shapes tell you how long. A filled note with a stem is one beat; a hollow one with a stem is two. A rest is silence that still counts: this one, a beat.

Crotchet. Filled, with a stem: one beat

Minim. Hollow, with a stem: two beats

Semibreve. Hollow, no stem: four beats

What you sing

  1. Count in with the clicks, then read it: names under the notes.
  2. Again, names faint. Hold each long note its full two beats.
  3. Three bars, no names: long notes, and a rest that counts.

Singing safely

Sing at an easy volume, in the middle of your range. Stop if anything tightens, scratches or hurts, and rest your voice.

Free tools by Stackapella

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Stackapella teaches you to sing harmony one part at a time, right in your browser.

Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up.
  • A guide sings your partHear your line over the others, slow it down, then take your turn.
  • Your notes light upEach note shows where you landed, and a hint when to go up or down.
  • Record every part yourselfStack your takes in time until you're the whole choir.
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