Topmusicanswers
1. If you are writing a single melodic line, stems should go up if the note is below the middle line and down if the note is above the middle line. If the note is on the mid- dle line, the stem may go up or down, depending on the stems of adjacent notes (example B.
- What is the stem rule?
- Why to some note stems go down and some go up?
- At which line in the staff do we change stem direction?
What is the stem rule?
The stem rule tells us which direction the stem of a music note must be written on the music staff. You may have noticed that sometimes you see stems going up for some notes and going down for others. This is not just random. There are two compositional rules musicians follow when writing notes on the staff.
Why to some note stems go down and some go up?
Different-pointing stems indicate the voice for polyphonic music written on the same staff. ... If the stem points up from a notehead, the stem originates from the right-hand side of the note, but if it points down, it originates from the left.
At which line in the staff do we change stem direction?
Rule #1. If the notehead of a music note is on the third line of the staff or above, the stems must go down on the left. (If you're not sure what the third line is, read more here about the lines and spaces.)
