Clefi’s Music Notebook 2

Clefi's Music Notebooks 1 - 4 are full-color music books created for elementary and middle school students, music schools, private music studios, and individual learners. The core Notebooks are part of the series created by the esteemed Czech music educator and celebrated bassist Dr. Eva Sasinkova. The workbooks are beautifully illustrated by Czech artist Kateřina Kovářová, M.A., and Dr. Roman Placzek, a respected Czech-American cellist, educator, composer, and publisher, who skillfully translated and adapted the content for English-speaking audiences.

In Celfi’s Music Notebook 2, young musicians can learn about the pitch class system and learn more about scales. They will discover the differences between major and minor scales, and learn how to use the circle of fifths to create all the major scales with sharps and flats. Clefi and Notelina talk about intervals, how to create fifth chords, and their inversions. They talk about chord symbols, which will be needed later on when creating harmonic accompaniment. We will also learn about tempo markings, repetitions, upbeats, octave transpositions, syncopes, and triplets.

At the end of the book, we will travel back in time to uncover the origins and evolution of the minor scale. We will explore why we use three forms of the minor scale today: natural, harmonic, and melodic. Additionally, we will read about the famous Greek scholar Pythagoras, who studied tones and discovered the principles that influence their pitch. His work laid the foundation for the theory of tuning and intervals.