Reading Music - Musical Notation
Here are the basics of reading musical notation - compliments of the easy duet music people.
The Clefs
The 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.
The Treble Clef looks like this: 
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!
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.
On to our next clef.
| Reading Music Basics notation & clefs |
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The Bass Clef looks like this:
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!
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: 
) 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). Music written for the viola
commonly uses this clef.
