Reading Music - Musical Notation
Here are the basics of reading musical notation - compliments of the easy duet music people.
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Reading Music - Musical NotationHere are the basics of reading musical notation - compliments of the easy duet music people. |
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When reading music there are a few basic things to learn. The paper used is called manuscript paper. In musical notation music is written on a staff or stave (a system of 5 parallel horizontal lines across the page). Two or more staves may be combined above and below each other when writing for piano, groups of instruments, etc. A collection of staves with musical notation written in this way for 2 or more instruments is called a score. The ClefsThe clefs (or signs) exist in order to show on which line or space of the stave a specified note pitch is to be placed. (Pitch just means height of the sound, that is: how high or low the note sounds.) The clef will always be shown at the beginning of each stave of musical notation.
The Treble Clef is a sign that means notes are quite high. A quick break before the next clef - go to our easy music pieces page where you can listen to lots of simple but fun, original tunes for you to learn if you are beginning to play a solo musical instrument. Also this site has these easy tunes arranged as duets for piano with a choice of many different solo instruments. |
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On to our next clef. The Bass Clef is a sign that means musical notes are quite low. There are a few other clefs that are much more rarely used in musical notation (sometimes for certain vocalists
and instruments). The most common of these is the type of C Clef (looking
like: Copyright © 2006 Brian Farley, All Rights Reserved. Author Information: Brian Farley has been a professional Musical Director and pianist since 1974 and worked worldwide in the top echelons of the entertainment industry. His duet sheet music website "Easy Duets, Sheet Music for Schools, Musical Instrument Students" provides original musical duets and trios for early level students to play together. It also has some good free "reading music notation" information. ***** If you wish to use this article for your website or newsletter, you may do so as long as the article is reproduced exactly as above and the Author Information paragraph is included, together with the active links contained within it. Any reproduction failing to comply with these terms will be deemed a breach of copyright. |
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and started its life
centuries ago looking like the letter G with the cross-piece of the G
written on the second line up of the stave. This made any note written on
the second line up a note pitch of G (just up from middle C on a piano).
Over the centuries, hand-written musical notation manuscripts have gradually restyled the G
clef into what it is today, but it still coils around the second line up.
So, remember that in notation a treble clef is a G clef and you're half-way there!
and started its life
centuries ago looking like the letter F with the two cross-pieces of
the F written each side of (above and below) the second line down of the
stave. This made any note written on the second line down a note pitch of F
(just below middle C on a piano). Over the centuries, hand-written
manuscripts have gradually restyled the F clef into what it is today, but
the two dots still show where the ends of the cross-pieces are - these are
the most important parts of the clef that go above and below the second line
down. So, remember that a bass clef is an F clef and reading musical
notation for the lower register will become much clearer!
) defined as the Alto Clef, which has the line
left open between the upper and lower parts of the clef defined as C (middle
C on a piano).