What does “Dizek” mean?

The word

Dizek comes from the Turkish verb dizmek, “to line up”: it is where the notes are lined up. In everyday Turkish the staff is more often called porte, from the French portée, “that which carries”, since the lines carry the notes. Both words mean the same thing.

Five lines, four spaces

The lines and the spaces between them are counted from the bottom up. A note sits either on a line, with the line running through its middle, or in a space between two lines. The higher a note sits, the higher it sounds.

Notes on the treble clef

The clef at the start of the staff says which line is which note. The treble clef, or G clef, curls around the second line and makes it G. Most music for melody instruments is written with it, and Turkish music almost always is.

On the lines, from the bottom up: E, G, B, D, F (“Every Good Boy Does Fine”). In the spaces: F, A, C, E, which spells “FACE”.

Notes above and below: ledger lines

Notes beyond the five lines get short extra lines of their own, called ledger lines. Middle C sits on the first ledger line below the staff; the A above the staff sits on the first one above it.

What else sits on the staff

After the clef comes the key signature: the sharps and flats that hold for the whole piece. In Turkish music the key signature also carries koma accidentals, and it is the first clue to the makam; the makam pages show each one. Then the time signature, the number of beats in a bar (in Turkish music, the usûl), and bar lines divide the music into bars.

And Dizek, the app

Dizek reads the staff for you. Photograph a printed page and it finds the clef, the key signature and the time signature, and works out which line or space every note sits on. Then it names each note, shows its fingering and plays the piece with you. That is why it carries the staff’s Turkish name.