How to Read Sheet Music: A Step-by-Step Guide - Musicnotes ...

Learn how to read sheet music and improve your skills with Musicnotes. ... Its purpose is to tell you how long to hold a note. We'll see below how a single ... StayConnected Search Tips HowToReadSheetMusic:AStep-by-StepGuide Haveyoueverwantedtolearnhowtoreadsheetmusic?We’reheretohelp!Thisarticlefeaturesafullintroductiontothelanguageofmusic,plusitincludesfreetoolstogetyoustartedonyourmusicjourney. 3.5kSHARESShareTweetPin Haveyoueverheardasongontheradioandthought,“Hey,it’dbereallycooltoknowhowtoplaythat?”Doyouhavefriendswhoplaymusicalinstruments,andyouwanttojoininonthefun?Doyouwanttoexpandyourgeneralartisticknowledge?Well,learningthebasicsofhowtoreadsheetmusiccanhelpyouachieveallofthese,andinashorteramountoftimethanyoumightthink! Atitsverysimplest,musicisalanguagejustlikeyou’dreadaloudfromabook.Thesymbolsyouseeonpagesofsheetmusichavebeenusedforhundredsofyears.Theyrepresentthepitch,speed,andrhythmofthesongtheyconvey,aswellasexpressionandtechniquesusedbyamusiciantoplaythepiece.Thinkofthenotesastheletters,themeasuresasthewords,thephrasesasthesentences,andsoon.Learninghowtoreadmusicreallydoesopenupawholenewworldtoexplore! Followourstep-by-stepintroductiontoreadingmusicand,withalittlepractice,you’llbeplayingalonginnotime.Keepreadingtotheendforsomefreetoolsandsheetmusicarrangementstohelpyoulearn. HowtoReadMusic Step1:LearntheBasicSymbolsofMusicalNotation Musicismadeupofavarietyofsymbols,themostbasicofwhicharethestaff,theclefs,andthenotes.Allmusiccontainsthesefundamentalcomponents,andtolearnhowtoreadmusic,youmustfirstfamiliarizeyourselfwiththesebasics. TheStaff Thestaffconsistsoffivelinesandfourspaces.Eachofthoselinesandeachofthosespacesrepresentsadifferentletter,whichinturnrepresentsanote.Sheetmusicnotes,representedbylinesandspaces,arenamedA-G,andthenotesequencemovesalphabeticallyupthestaff. TrebleClef Therearetwomainclefswithwhichtofamiliarizeyourself;thefirstisatrebleclef.ThetrebleclefhastheornamentalletterGonthefarleftside.TheG’sinnerswoopencirclesthe“G”lineonthestaff.Thetrebleclefnotatesthehigherregistersofmusic,soifyourinstrumenthasahigherpitch,suchasaflute,violin,orsaxophone,yoursheetmusiciswritteninthetrebleclef.Highernotesonakeyboardalsoarenotatedonthetrebleclef. Weusecommonmnemonicstorememberthenotenamesforthelinesandspacesofthetrebleclef.Forlines,werememberEGBDFbythewordcue“EveryGoodBoyDoesFine.”Similarly,forthespaces,FACEisjustliketheword“face.” BassClef Thelinebetweenthetwobassclefdotsisthe“F”lineonthebassclefstaff,andit’salsoreferredtoastheFclef.Thebassclefnotatesthelowerregistersofmusic,soifyourinstrumenthasalowerpitch,suchasabassoon,tuba,orcello,yoursheetmusiciswritteninthebassclef.Lowernotesonyourkeyboardalsoarenotatedinthebassclef. Acommonmnemonictoremembernotenamesforthelinesofthebassclefis:GBDFA“GoodBoysDoFineAlways.”Andforthespaces:ACEG,“AllCowsEatGrass.” SheetMusicSymbolsandNotesonaStaff Notesplacedonthestafftelluswhichnotelettertoplayonourinstrumentandhowlongtoplayit.Therearethreepartsofeachnote,thenotehead,thestem,andtheflag. Allmusicnoteshaveanotehead,eitherfilled(black)oropen(white).Wherethenoteheadsitsonthestaff(eitheronalineorspace)determineswhichnoteyouwillplay.Sometimes,noteheadswillsitaboveorbelowthefivelinesandfourspacesofastaff.Inthatcase,aline(knownasaledgerline)isdrawnthroughthenote,abovethenoteorbelowthenotehead,toindicatethenotelettertoplay,asintheBandCnotesabove. Thenotestemisathinlinethatextendseitherupordownfromthenotehead.Thelineextendsfromtherightifpointingupwardorfromtheleftifpointingdownward.Thedirectionofthelinedoesn’taffecthowyouplaythenotebutservestomakethenoteseasiertoreadwhileallowingthemtofitneatlyonthestaff.Asarule,anynotesatorabovethe“B”lineonthestaffhavedownwardpointingstems,thosenotesbelowthe“B”linehaveupwardpointingstems. Thenoteflagisacurvymarktotherightofthenotestem.Itspurposeistotellyouhowlongtoholdanote.We’llseebelowhowasingleflagshortensthenote’sduration,whilemultipleflagscanmakeitshorterstill. Nowthatyouknowthepartstoeachnote,we’lltakeacloserlookatthosefilledandopennoteheadsdiscussedabove.Whetheranoteheadisfilledoropenshowsusthenote’svalue,orhowlongthatnoteshouldbeheld.Startwithaclosednoteheadwithastem.That’sourquarternote,anditgetsonebeat.Anopennoteheadwithastemisahalfnote,anditgetstwobeats.Anopennotethatlookslikean“o”withoutastemisawholenote,anditgetsheldforfourbeats. Thereareotherwaystoextendthelengthofanote.Adotafterthenotehead,forexample,addsanotherhalfofthatnote’sdurationtoit.So,ahalfnotewithadotwouldequalahalfnoteandaquarternote;aquarternotewithadotequalsaquarterplusaneighthnote.Atiemayalsobeusedtoextendanote.Twonotestiedtogethershouldbeheldaslongasthevalueofbothofthosenotestogether,andtiesarecommonlyusedtosignifyheldnotesthatcrossmeasuresorbars. Theoppositemayalsohappen.Wecanshortentheamountoftimeanoteshouldbeheld,relativetothequarternote.Fasternotesaresignifiedwitheitherflags,liketheonesdiscussedabove,orwithbeamsbetweenthenotes.Eachflaghalvesthevalueofanote,soasingleflagsignifies1/2ofaquarternote,adoubleflaghalvesthatto1/4ofaquarternote,etcetera.Beamsdothesamewhileallowingustoreadthemusicmoreclearlyandkeepthenotationlesscluttered.Asyoucansee,there’snodifferenceinhowyoucounttheeighthand16thnotesabove.Followalongwiththesheetmusicfor“Alouette”toseehowbeamsorganizenotes! Butwhathappenswhenthereisn’tanotetakingupeachbeat?It’seasy,wetakearest!Arest,justlikeanote,showsushowlongitshouldbeheldbasedonitsshape.Seehowwholeandquarterrestsareusedinthesong“HereWeGoLooby-Loo.” Step2:PickUptheBeat Toplaymusic,youneedtoknowitsmeter,thebeatyouusewhendancing,clapping,ortappingyourfootalongwithasong.Whenreadingmusic,themeterispresentedsimilartoafraction,withatopnumberandabottomnumber.Wecallthisthesong’stimesignature.Thetopnumbertellsyouhowmanybeatsareinameasure,thespacebetweeneachverticalline(calledabar).Thebottomnumbertellsyouthenotevalue(thelength)ofeachbeat. Intheexampleabove,thetimesignatureis4/4,meaningtherearefourbeatsperbarandthateveryquarternotegetsonebeat.Clickheretolistentosheetmusicwrittenin4/4time,andtrycountingalong1,2,3,4–1,2,3,4withthebeatnumbersabove. Intheexamplebelow,thetimesignatureis3/4,meaningtherearethreebeatsperbarandthateveryquarternotegetsonebeat.Clickheretolistentosheetmusicwrittenin3/4time,trycountingthebeats,1,2,3–1,2,3. Let’slookagainattheaboveexamples.Noticethateventhoughthe4/4timesignaturein“Twinkle,TwinkleLittleStar”callsforfourbeatsperbar,therearen’tfournotesinthesecondbar.That’sbecauseyouhavetwoquarternotesandonehalfnote,whichaddedtogetherequalfourbeats. Inadditiontoyournotevaluesandtimesignature,thelastpiecetofeelingtherhythmisknowingyourtempo,definedbythebeatsperminute.Tempotellsyouhowfastorslowapieceisintendedtobeplayed,andoftenisshownatthetopofapieceofsheetmusic.Forexample,atempoof60BPM(beatsperminute)meansyouplay60ofthesignifiednoteseveryminuteorasinglenoteeverysecond.Likewise,atempoof120doublesthespeedtotwonoteseverysecond.YoumayalsoseeItalianwordslike“Largo,”“Allegro,”or“Presto”atthetopofyoursheetmusic,whichsignifiescommontempos.Musiciansuseatoolcalledametronometohelpthemkeeptempowhilepracticinganewpiece.ClickheretoseeanonlinemetronometoolandclickonthecirclesnexttotheBPMvaluestoseehowatempocanspeedupandslowdown.   Step3:PlayaMelody Congratulations,you’realmostonyourwaytoreadingsheetmusic!Next,let’slookatscales.Ascaleismadeofeightconsecutivenotes.Forexample,theCmajorscaleiscomposedofC,D,E,F,G,A,B,C.TheintervalbetweenthefirstnoteoftheCmajorscaleandthelastisanexampleofanoctave.WerecommendpracticingtheCmajorscaleasmuchaspossible,sinceknowingitmakesiteasiertolearntheothermajorscales.EachofthenotesoftheCmajorscalecorrespondswithawhitekeyonyourkeyboard.Here’showtheCmajorscalelooksonastaffandhowthatcorrespondstothekeysonyourkeyboard: Noticethatasthenotesascendthestaff,andmovetotherightonyourkeyboard,thepitchofthenotesbecomehigher.Butwhatabouttheblackkeys?Musically,wholetones,orwholestepsbetweenthenoteletters,wouldlimitthesoundswe’reabletoproduceonourinstruments.Let’sconsidertheCmajorscaleyoujustlearnedtoplay.ThedistancebetweentheCandtheDkeysintheCscaleisawholestep.However,thedistancebetweentheEandtheFkeysintheCscaleisahalf-step.Doyouseethedifference?TheEandtheFkeysdon’thaveablackkeyinbetweenthem,thusthey’rejustahalfstepawayfromoneanother.Everymajorscalehasthesamepattern:whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half.Therearemanyothertypesofscales,eachwithuniquesounds,likeminorscales,modalscales,andmorethatyou’llcomeacrosslater.Fornow,let’sfocusonlyonmajorscalesandthemajorscalepattern.LookattheCmajorscaleagainonthekeyboardbelow. Semitones,orhalf-stepsonthekeyboard,allowustowriteaninfinitevarietyofsoundsintomusic.Asharp,denotedbythe♯symbol,meansthatnoteisasemitone(orhalfstep)higherthanthenoteheadtoitsrightonsheetmusic.Conversely,aflat,denotedbya♭symbol,meansthenoteisasemitonelowerthanthenoteheadtoitsright.Noticeonthekeyboardpictureandnotatedstaffbelow,showingeachhalfstepbetweentheCandtheEnotes,thatwhetheryouusethesharportheflatofanotedependsonwhetheryou’removingupordownthekeyboard. There’sonemoresymboltolearnregardingsemitones,andthat’sthenatural,denotedbya♮.Ifanoteissharporflat,thatsharporflatextendsthroughoutthemeasure,unlessthere’sanaturalsymbol.Anaturalcancelsasharporflatwithinameasureorasong.Here’swhatplayingCtoEwouldlooklikewithnaturalsymbols. Thelastkeytolearninghowtoreadmusicisunderstandingkeysignatures.Asanexample,theCmajorscaleyoulearnedabovewasinthekeyofC.Scalesarenamedaftertheirtonic,thepreeminentnotewithinthescale,andthetonicdetermineswhatkeyyouplayin.Youcanstartamajorscaleonanynote,solongasyoufollowthewhole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-halfpattern.FollowingthatpatterninkeysotherthanthekeyofCwillrequireyoutousesharpsandflats.Sincethat’sthecase,weplacethesharpsorflatsforyoursong’skeysignaturerightbeforethemeter,aftertheclef,onyoursheetmusic.Thattellsyoutomaintainthosesharpsorflatsthroughoutthemusicunlessthere’sanaturalsymboltooverrideit.Youwillbegintorecognizethekeysignaturesofpiecesbasedonwhichsharpsorflatsareshown.Here’saquickglimpseatsomekeysignaturesusingsharpsandflats: Step4:FreeToolstoHelpYouLearn Thestepsaboveareagreatplacetostartasyoulearntoreadmusic.Tohelpyoualongonyourmusicaljourney,we’vealsocreatedafewfreetoolstobeginpracticingwith. First,downloadafreearrangementof“MaryHadaLittleLamb.”Justaddthesongtoyourcartandproceedthroughcheckout.Formorevariety,checkouttherestofoursheetmusicforbeginners,allofwhichyou’llbeabletoplayusingthestepsabove.PlaypopularhitsliketheStarWarsTheme,“LetItGo”from‘Frozen’,“Hallelujah”byLeonardCohen,andmore.We’readdingnewBeginnerNotesdaily,sobesuretocheckbackoftenandlearntoplayallyourfavoritesongs! We’vealsocreatedahelpfulguideforletteringthekeysonyourkeyboardorpiano.DownloadyourKeyboardNoteGuideheretoprint,fold,andplaceonyourkeyboard.Onceyoubecomefamiliarwiththekeys,youcaneasilyremoveitandcontinuetostrengthenyournote-readingskills. Finally,don’tforgettodownloadthefreeMusicnotesapp!EnjoyinstantaccesstoallyourMusicnotessheetmusicfiles,plustoolsandfeaturescreatedbymusicians,formusicians.Asyouprogressandlearnhowtoreadsheetmusic,yourcollectionofarrangementswillgrow.Ourappmakesiteasytokeepeverythingorganizedonthego.Ifyouhaveanyadditionalquestionsorneedhelpfindingsongstopractice,reachouttoourteamofexpertsandwe’llbehappytohelp.Goodluckand,mostimportantly,havefun! 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