User Manual

the guitar (high E). This actually corresponds to what you see when you lean over
your guitar, as opposed to what you see when you are facing it.
2/4/2/ Understanding rhythm
Notes can have different durations. A note’s duration is not expressed in
seconds, but as a multiple of the tempo. A quarter note is one beat. The tempo
is expressed in bpm (beats per minute). So if the tempo is 60, a quarter note
lasts 1 second. If the tempo is 120, the quarter note is 1⁄2 second. The other
notes are defined relative to the whole note — on the staff below are a whole
note (bar 1), then two half-notes (bar 2), four quarter-notes (bar 3), and eight
eighth-notes (bar 4):
When a note is dotted, its duration is one and a half times its original value
(x1.5):
N-tuplets (triplets, quintuplets, sextuplets...) consist in playing a certain number
of notes in a given time-spam. For example, a triplet of eighth notes (3 x 1⁄2
beats = 1.5 beat) is played on one beat; or a quintuplet of eighth notes (5 x 1⁄2
beats = 2.5 beats) also on one beat.
2/4/3/ Time and key signature
The time signature sets the number of beats per bar. For example, for a time
signature of 3⁄4: the 4 indicates that the reference time is the quarter note, and
the 3 indicates that there are 3 beats per bar. In this case, there are 3 quarter-
notes in a bar.
The key signature tells you what accidentals (sharps or flats) are systematic in
the score.