Latinpianist Presents:

How to Read Music

Introduction

• Writtenmusicis called music notation. Music notation tells you which notes to play and how to play them.Many types of music notation have been inventedbut this guide will focus on standard notation, also known as common notation. Get your equipment ready:

1. Sheet Music(pick songs for beginners or songs you are familiar with)
2. Pencil
3. Instrument (yourvoiceis fine too)

• And now read on to learn everything you need to know about reading music.

Lesson 1: Basic Structure of Sheet Music

• Before you can read music, you have to familiarize yourself with the basic structure and symbols of music notation. Just like when learning any newlanguage, you have to know the alphabet.

Staff

• The staff is thecentral structure of common notationwhich links symbols together to create music. All symbols and markings fall within, below or above the staff.

1. The staff isfive horizontal lines with six corresponding spaces; each line and space represents apitch.
2. The pitches are given letter names:A, B, C, D, E, F, Gand are called notes.
3. In addition to notes, the staff containsa clef, akey signature, atime signature, and various symbols that affect thetempo and pitch of each note.
4. Music on a staff is read fromleft to right.

Bar Lines

• Vertical lines on the staff are calledbar lines.

1. Bar lines separate the staff into sections called measures(or bars).
   

   (Image by J.M. Brown)
2. Double bar lines mark the end of asection.

Ledger Lines

• Ledger Lines are additional parallel lines above and below the staff, which act as anextension of the staff. Notes sit above, below, or on the ledger line.

Clefs

• The clef is a symbol placed at thebeginning of a staff; it appears at the beginning ofevery piece of music.

1. There are two main clefs: thetreble clef and the bass clef.
2. The type of clef determines theoctave the notes are played in.
3. It also determines where theletter names of the notes(A, B, C, D, E, F, G) will fall.
4. Using different clefs makes music notation clearer becausefewer ledger lines are needed.

Treble Clef

1. The treble clef is also called the G Clef because itencircles the G line.
2. Most music uses the treble clef; it is used forhigher pitched instruments and tenor, bass, alto and soprano voices.

Bass Clef

1. The bass clef is used forlower pitched instruments and bass and baritone voices.
2. The bass clef is also known as the F Clef because itstwo dots center around F.

Grand Staff

• A grand staff combines the treble and bass clefs. A vertical line on the left side connects the staffs.

• Multiple staves that are meant to play together are also connected by a left vertical line and can beconnected at each bar line.

• NOTE:A piano plays thetreble clef and the bass clef at the same time. The left hand plays the bass clef and the right hand plays the treble clef.

Lesson 2: All About Notes

• Now that you can identify basic symbols, you need to be able to identify notes. Named after the first seven letters of the alphabet, each note corresponds to asingle musical sound:A, B, C, D, E, F. They correspond to the lines and spaces on a staff.

How to Remember Note Names

• You won't be able to read music until you memorize note names and positions. Here are a few tricks to make it easier. Remember, notes on the treble clef differ from notes on the bass clef.

1. Treble Clef:
   1. Reading from the bottom up, the names of the notes on the open spaces areF-A-C-E.
      

      (Image by J.M. Brown)
   2. Reading from the bottom up, the names of the notes that sit on lines are E-G-B-D-F.
      • To help you remember try the acronym:EveryGoodBoyDoesFine
        

        (Image by J.M. Brown)
2. Bass Clef:
   1. Reading from the bottom, notes on the spaces are A-C-E-G.
      • Acronym:AllCowsEatGrass
        

        (Image by J.M. Brown)
   2. Notes on the lines areG-B-D-F-A
      • Acronym:GoodBoysDoFineAlways.
        

        (Image by J.M. Brown)

• If you don't like these tricks, there aremany others—or you can create silly acronyms of your own.

• TIP:Another great way to learn notes (and other symbols) is to useflashcards.

Note Duration

• Shapeindicates note length. Common note lengths include:

1. Whole Note
   • Looks like an egg on its side. Head is not filled in.
   • A whole note lasts for a whole measure.
2. Half Note
   • Looks like an egg on its side but has a vertical line at one end. Vertical line can draw up or down, depending on the note's location on the staff. Head is not filled in.
   • A half note lasts forhalf a whole note.
3. Quarter Note
   • Looks like a half note but the head is filled in.
   • A quarter note lasts fora quarter of a whole note.
4. Eighth Note
   • Looks like a quarter note but has a flag off the stem. If notes are grouped together, the flag becomes a beam linking the notes.
   • An eighth note lasts aneighth of a whole note.
   • Remember, note lengths within a measure work likemath fractions. For example, four eighth notes equal one half note.
   • 

     Whole note, half note, quarter note, and eighth notes(Image by J.M. Brown)
5. Sixteenth Note
   • Looks like an eighth note but has two flags. If notes are grouped together, double beams link the notes.
   • A sixteenth note lasts for asixteenth of a whole note.
6. Thirty-second Note
   • Looks like an eighth note but has three flags; is grouped to other thirty-second notes by three beams.
   • Lasts for athirty-second of a whole note.

Rests

• Each note length has a corresponding rest. A rest representssilencein music.

1. Whole Rest:A dark rectangle attached to a bar line, which faces downward.
2. Half Rest:A dark rectangle attached to a bar line which faces upward.
3. Quarter Rest:A squiggly vertical line.
4. Eighth Rest:A slanted line with one dot.
5. Sixteenth Rest:A slanted line with two dots.
6. Thirty-second Rest:A slanted line with three dots.

More Notation

1. Ties: An arc connecting two or more notes indicates you should slide the notes together as you play or sing.
2. Accents: An accent above a note means you should emphasize the note.
3. Dots: You may see a dot next to or above notes in your music.
   • If you see a dot by any note or rest, the duration of the beat is increased by half. For example, a dotted quarter note will equal three eighth notes.
   • A dot above a note, however, means you should perform it in ashortened, staccatostyle.

Volume

• Pay attention tomarkingsthat direct you howloud (or soft)your notes should be.Common termsinclude:
  • piano(marked asp): soft.
  • crescendo(marked as<): increase volume.
  • fortissimo(marked asff): very loud.
  • pianoforte(marked aspf): soft, then loud.

• View a complete list of termshere.

Lesson 3: Key Signature

• Musical notes are written inkeys.

1. The key signature is located to the right of theclef sign.
2. The key signature indicates if a note should beflat, sharp, or naturalthroughout the entire piece of music.
   • When a sharp or flat note appears in the key signature,all notes of that letter are sharp or flat.
3. If individual notes are played sharp, flat or natural (occurring once or twice in a piece) then the symbols appear next to theindividual note.
   • These pitches are called accidentals because they are not in the key signature.
4. Here are what sharp, flat, and natural symbols look like:
   • Flat: Looks likethe letter b. Lowers the note a half step.
   • Sharp: Looks like apound sign (#). Raises the note a half step.
   • Natural: Cancels out a flat or sharp note.

Determining Keys

• Thekey signaturecan help you figure out which major key the music is in. Until you memorize the different key signatures, follow these rules and you'll always know the major key:

1. If the key signature contains sharps:
   1. Look at thelast sharp.
   2. Thenote one half step abovethe final sharp is the name of the key.
   3. Forexample, if the last sharp is C sharp then the key is D major.
2. If the key signature contains flats:
   1. Thesecond-to-last flatnames the key.
   2. Forexample, if the second-to-last flat is A flat then the key is A flat major.
      

      (Image by J.M. Brown)
3. This trick does not work for:
   1. C Major
   2. F Major
      • You willwant to memorize the key signatures for these keys.

Note Sounds

• Now you canfigure out the pitch of a note. Look at the:

1. Clef
2. Key Signature
3. Line or space it sits on.

Lesson 4: Time Signature

• Meter, also calledtime, is thebasic rhythm of the music. The time signature tells you the meter of the music by defining thenumber of beats per measure and which kind of note gets one beat.

1. On a staff, the time signature is to the right of the key signature and appears at thebeginning of a piece of music.
2. Time signature is indicated by a fraction:
   • The upper number indicates how manybeats per measure.
   • The bottom number indicateswhich note gets a full beat.
   • If the bottom number is:
     • 

       (Image by J.M. Brown)
     • 1—aWhole notegets one beat
     • 2—aHalf notegets one beat
     • 4—aQuarter notegets one beat
     • 8—aEighth notegets one beat
     • 16—aSixteenth notegets one beat
       • For example, if the time signature reads 4/4 (the most popular time signature) then there arefour beatsper measure, and a quarter note gets one beat. Awhole note is 4 beats long and a half note is 2 beats long.
3. There are two types of meter: simple and compound.
   • In simple meter, the upper number is 2, 3, or 4.
   • In compound meter, the upper number is 6, 9, or 12.
4. Instead of a fraction, a time signature may also be indicated by:
   • A bigC: this meansCommon Time, which is the same as 4/4 time.
   • A bigC with a vertical line through the center: this means the same as 4/4 time but the notes are cut in half.
     • Example:1 whole note = 1 half note

Tempo

• In addition to time signature, the duration of notes depends on theirtempo. Tempo markings indicate howfast or slowto play the music.

1. Tempo markings appear above the staff at thebeginning of a musical piece or when the tempo changes.
2. There aretwo ways to specify tempo.
   1. Metronome markings: indicate beats per minute. Musicians practice the tempo using a device called ametronome.
   2. Italian Notations: Italian words or phrases describing the way a piece of music should feel.
      1. Here are a fewcommon tempo terms:
         • Presto: very fast
         • Andante: medium slow
         • Lento: slow
         • Vivo: lively and brisk
      2. Italian modifiersare used with tempo terms. Modifiers include:
         • un poco: a little
         • molto: a lot
         • piu: more
         • meno: less

Lesson 5: Reading Your Measures

• Now that you've learned how to determine the duration of notes, you're ready to count through your measures.

Basic Counting

• Basic counting iskeeping the beat. Remember what you've learned about time signature, meter, and note duration. You will need to apply this information to count beats.

• Each measure of beats follows apattern. Meter is the recurring pattern ofstrong and weak beats of equal duration. To figure out the meter of the above image:

1. Look at the time signature.
   1. What is the top number?
      • The top number is four, which means there are four beats to every measure.
   2. What is the bottom number?
      • The bottom number is also four, which means each beat lasts for a quarter measure.
2. Look at the notes.
   • In the first measure the whole note gets4 beats.
   • In the second measure each half note gets2 beats.
   • In the third measure each quarter note gets1 beat.

Understand Meter

• Meter is a pattern ofstrong and weaknotes. The beginning of the beat, also called thedownbeat, is the strongest part of the beat. Common patterns include:

1. Strong-weak-weak-strong-weak-weak(1-2-3-1-2-3)
2. Strong-weak-strong-weak(1-2-1-2)

• As different types of notes are combined in one measure, counting becomes more complicated. To make counting easier, trysubdividing.
  • Subdividing is when every note in the measure is divided by thesmallest note in the measure. Remember,1 whole note = 2 half notes = 4 quarter notes= 8 eighth notes = 16 sixteenth notes, and so on.
• For example:

1. In this example, every note is subdivided into eighth notes.
2. To count, you'd say "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and"(1+ 2+ 3+ 4+).
3. Counting sixteenth notes is very similar to counting eighth notes. To count sixteenth notes: each sixteenth note becomes1 e + a, so you'd say "1 e and a." Each part equals one-fourth of a quarter note.

• NOTE:An exception to the mathematical precision of notes aretuplets, which are describedhere.

Repeating

• You already know that two vertical lines mark the end of a measure, but there are a few additional notations that can help you follow along.

1. Two dots next to those lines means you should go back to the beginning to repeat the piece.
2. That is, unless you have another two lines with dots on the left side; in that case, repeat the intervening section.
   • 

     (Image by J.M. Brown)
   • 

     (Image by J.M. Brown)
3. An angled line with a dot on either side indicates you should repeat the previous measure.
4. Two lines with a dot on either side means repeat the last two measures.
5. There are a few more symbols you may encounter: gohereto learn about coda, fine, and segno symbols.