Q: ok great that makes sense (played the scale on a keyboard and i get what you're saying). ready for the next step, thanks
A: ok let's make a melody and then put it in different keys. the melody is going to be 8 8th notes in the first bar, then 2 quarter notes and a half note in the second bar. a half note looks like a quarter note with a hollow head, and it rhythmically lasts for 2 beats, or half of the bar. the notes are going to be: c d e g f e d c b, d, c. Start on middle C, which is that one off the bottom that needed a special piece of a line (that's called a ledger line by the way). there are no big jumps in this melody, so assume that each note is the one nearest to the previous (not an octave away). the highest note would be g, the lowest note is B, which is actually below the ledger line! so you have to make a ledger line just like you did for C, but put B below it. you don't need to make a ledger line for D. so this tune should have a total of 4 ledger lines. again, a ledger line is that little piece of a line that you made for C when it was off the edge of the staff. ok so that's the melody. try to sing or play it if you can. then we are going to move it into different keys and see which flats or sharps we need to use