How to read music.

It's certainly possible to play music without being able to read it, just as it's possible
to be able to speak without being able to read. In both cases, the person who cannot
read or write is missing out on an opportunity to comprehend and communicate
better.
Learning to read sheet music can improve your grasp of music theory, enable you to
play music you've never heard before, and allow you to more easily relate your
musical ideas to others. The skill can take a while to master, but the basics are going
to be laid out for you this year.

Sheet music or music scores are hand-written or printed form of music notation that
uses modern musical symbols.

1. The notes and their names:

A note is a sign used to represent the pitch of a sound.

In traditional music theory pitch classes are represented by the first seven letters of
the Latin alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, F and G). The eight note, or octave is given the
same name as the first, but has double its frequency, so once reaching the letter G,
the pattern returns to letter A and continues on. As you might imagine, when a
scale descends (goes downward), the letters go in reverse.

Study the following sequences of notes. Some go "upward" and

some go "downward". Fill in the blanks with the next notes in each
sequence:
a) E F G A B ___ ___ ___ b) A G ___ ___

c) F E D ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ d) F G ___ ___

d) B A ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

In Arabic, Bulgarian, Flemish, French, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Persian, Portuguese,

Romanian, Russian, Spanish and Turkish notation the notes of scales are given in
terms of Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol (So)-La-Si (Ti) rather than C-D-E-F-G-A-B.

How many different notes are there? ____________________________

In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order.

2.- Stave (or staff NamE) and ledger lines:

A stave is a a set of five lines on which music is written.

The lines and spaces are numbered from bottom to top; the bottom line is the first
line and the top line is the fifth line.
How to read music. 2

A note must be on a line or in a space.

On a line means that the line goes through the middle of the note.
In a space means that the note touches the line above and below.

Mark each space or line with an X

1st line 4th space 3rd line 3rd space 1st space 5th line

Ledger lines are short

additional lines that are
used to write notes either
too low or to high to fit on
the regular musical stave.
A line slightly longer than
the note head is drawn
parallel to the stave, above
or below, spaced at the
same distance as the lines
within the stave. The lines and spaces are numbered in sequence, starting with the
one nearest the stave.

Write the high or low notes on the stave as indicated here; use
ledger lines, if needed:

high notes (above the stave): 1st space - 2nd space - 2nd line - 1st line

low notes (below the stave): 2nd space - 2nd line - 1st space - 1st line

Fill in the blanks:

a) a set of five lines on which music is written is called a _________
b) a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order is a __________
c) a sign used to represent the pitch of a sound is called a __________
d) the short additional lines that are used to write notes either too low or to high to
fit on the regular musical stave are called __________________________ (2 words)
How to read music. 3

3.- Clefs

A clef is a musical symbol at the beginning of a stave that shows the pitch and the
name of the notes on it.

There are three types of clef used in modern music notation: F, C and G (Fa, Do and
Sol). Each type of clef assigns a different reference note to the line on which is
placed. The use of three different clefs makes it possible to write music for all
instruments and voices, even though they may have very different tessituras (that is,
even though some sound much higher or lower than others). The use of different
clefs for different instruments and voices allows each part to be written comfortably
on the stave with minimum of ledger lines. To this end, the G-clef is used for high
parts, the C-clef for middle parts, and the F-clef for low parts.

Clef Name Instrument Note Line

Violin, guitar,
G-clef or encircled by the curl of the clef. It's always
flute, trumpet, G4
treble clef written on the second line of the stave.
recorder...
that passes through the center of the clef.
Viola, alto Middle C
C-clef It can be written on the first, the second,
trombone (C4)
the third or the fourth line.
Cello, Double
F-clef or between the two dots of the clef. It can be
bass, tuba, bass F3
bass clef written on the third or on the fourth line.
guitar, basson

In contemporary music literature, only four clefs are used regularly; of these, the
treble and bass clefs are by far the most common.

Draw six treble clefs on the stave below. On the left side of the stave, number
the lines from the bottom up. On the right side of the stave, number the spaces
from the bottom up:

Draw six bass clefs on the stave below. On the left side of the stave, number the
lines and number the spaces on the right side of the stave.
How to read music. 4

Draw in the following clefs:

1) Treble clef, or G 2) Tenor clef, or C4

3) Bass clef, of F4 4) Alto clef, or C3

1) 2) 3) 4)

How to use the clefs:

Placed on one of the lines at the beginning of the stave, they indicate the name and
pitch of the notes on that line. Once one of these clefs has been placed on one of the
lines of the stave, the other lines and spaces can be read in relation on it. This line
serves as a reference point by which the names of the notes on any other line or
space of the stave may be determined.

Therefore the treble clef contains notes that are higher in pitch than the bass clef and
the bass clef contains notes that are lower in pitch than the treble clef. For this reason
for some instruments that have a wide range of notes, the piano in particular, you
may see these two staves combined as follows:

The treble clef typically corresponds to the notes played with the right hand on the
piano meanwhile the piano part played by the left hand is usually written with a bass
clef.

The middle C note lies on the middle ledger line in between the upper five lines of the
G clef stave and the lower five lines of the F clef stave.

Grand stave

When music on two staves is joined by a brace or is intended

to be played at once by a single performer (usually a keyboard
instrument or the harp), a great stave is created. Typically, the
upper stave uses a treble clef and the lower stave has a bass
clef.

Activity:
Draw a brace to join the left side of the two staves so that it
looks like a grand stave. Then draw a treble clef in the top
stave and a bass clef in the bottom stave.
How to read music. 5

Piano keyboard:

Notice that a piano keyboard is a collection of white and black keys. As you can see,
the black keys are grouped together in alternating groups of two and three. The note
C (Do) is the white note that is just to the left of each group of two black notes.

If you sit at the middle of a piano and look down, you should be looking at Middle C

Answer the questions:

a) Upon which line of the stave is the Treble Clef placed? ______________________.

b) Upon which line of the stave is the Bass Clef placed? _______________________.

Using a Treble Clef write Middle C Using a Bass Clef write Middle C

Now follow the instructions below and place each note on the stave and
write its name (remember that youll need a clef):

1) 2nd space 2) 3rd space 3) 1st space 4) 2nd line 5) 4th line 6) 5th line

7) 1st ledger line below the stave 8) 1st space below the stave

9) 1st space above the stave 10) 3rd ledger line above the stave

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10)

You should know that a stave with a treble clef sign is called a treble stave.

In the treble stave write F (Fa) in two different positions

How to read music. 6

In the bass stave write A (La) in two different positions

Write these notes:

a) Treble Clef: G (Sol) on a line b) Bass Clef: A (La) in a space

c) Bass Clef: D (Re) on a line d) Treble Clef: D (Re) on a line

e) Treble Clef: F (Fa) in a space f) Bass Clef: B (Ti) on a line

On a stave write the Treble Clef, and after it the following notes: D (Re), F (Fa), E
(Mi), B (Ti)

On a stave write the Bass Clef, and after it the following notes: C (Do), G (Sol), A
(La), E (Mi)

Underneath each note, write its name:

How to read music. 7

An interval is the distance in pitch between two notes. The interval is counted from
the lower to the upper, including both notes.

Two notes played or written together (one on top of the other) are called a
harmonic interval (both notes should be played at the same time)
Two notes played one after the other are called a melodic interval.
Watch out, though! If two notes are touching, even if diagonal from each other, they
are harmonic intervals. Thats as close as we can get a 1st or 2nd withiout overlapping
the notes.

Activity:
Put the name of the interval in the space provided. Be sure to specify if it is a melodic
or harmonic interval by placing an M or H in front of the interval number.

The smallest intervale is a semitone. It is the shortest distance you can travel from
one key to the next on a keyboard. This is, for example, the distance between E/Mi
and F/Fa. The sum of two semitones gives one tone.

Accidentals are musical signs that modify the pitch of the notes.
A sharp (#) is a sign that makes a note sound a semitone higher.
A flat (b) is a sign that makes a note sound a semitone lower.
The accidental sign is written at the same height as the notehead, and always on the
left.
How to read music. 8

Duration

Most music is based on a steady beat, like the beat of your pulse, or the beat made
by someone walking. If you clap along to a piece of music you will probably find
yourself clapping on the beat or pulse.

The beat is the basic unit of time in music and the basic component of the rhythm.
Much music is characterized by a repeating sequence of stressed and unstressed
beats (often called strong and weak)

Different note values are used to show how long each musical sound should last.
Note values are the way we graphically represent the various durations of sounds. A
note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the color or shape of the
note head, the presence or absence of a stem / tail, and the presence or absence of
flags / hooks.

When a stem is present (stems are the lines which extend from the note head), it can
go either up (from the right side of the note head) or down (from the left side). In
most cases, the stem goes down if the note head is on the center line or above, and
up otherwise. Any flags always go to the right of the stem.

When two or more notes which would normally have flags (quavers or shorter) appear
successively, the flags may be replaced by beams. A beam is a thick line used to
connect multiple consecutive quavers or notes of shorter values.

All the note values follow the same rule: Each note value is half the duration of the
note value immediately before it and double the duration of the following one. Their
duration in relative terms is as follows:

A semibreve (whole note) = 2 minims (half note)

A minim (half note) = 2 crotchets (quarter note)
A crotchet (quarter note) = 2 quaver (eight note)

American British
How to read music. 9

Activity: Complete 8 beats using note values:

Rests
A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a symbol indicating the
length of the pause. Each rest symbol corresponds with a particular note value.

Activity: Complete 8 beats using rests:

Dotted note
A dotted note or rest is a note or a rest with a small dot written after it. The dot
increses the duration of the basic note or rest by half of its original value. If the basic
note/rest lasts 2 beats, the corresponding dotted note/rest lasts 3 beats. A dotted note
is equivalent to writing the basic note tied to a note of half the value.

If the note to be dotted is in a space, the dot also goes in the space, while if the note
is on a line, the dot goes in the space above (this also goes for notes on ledger lines).
When we talk about dotted rests, the dot is always placed in the third stave space.

Activity: Make groups of equal length on each side, by putting a dotted note or rest in
the box.
How to read music. 10

Complete the musical sums:

w + q + h = 7 beats
h + h + q =
h + q + e + e =
e + h + e =
Fill in the table:

ITEM NOTE VALUE REST VALUE

(number of beats)
Dotted whole note / rest

Whole note / rest

Dotted half note / rest

Half note / rest

Dotted quarter note / rest

Quarter note / rest

Dotted eighth note / rest

Eighth note / rest

How to read music. 11

TIED NOTES
A tie is a curved line connecting the heads of two notes of the same pitch, indicating
that they are to be played as a single note. When singing or playing you hold the first
note for the length of both tied notes.
Any number of notes can be tied together, but they must all be on the same line or
space. A tie is very useful when you write long notes which cross form one bar to
another.
The tie sign is always written so that it links the note heads together, not the stems.

Exercise:
Replace the following tied notes with an equivalent note value (use any duration
modifiers that you think are appropriate, if necessary)

The pause, or fermata:Is a symbol that consists of a semicircle with a dot in the
middle, and it is placed over or under a note or rest. Its purpose is to momentarily
interrupt the normal beat. It tells the performer to prolong the note or rest beyond its
normal value, leaving the exact duration at the performers discretion.

Rhythm is a pattern of long and short notes which fit around the beat.In music beats
are grouped together into BARS.A bar-line shows where the bar starts and finishes.
BAR or MEASURE
It refers to each group consisting of one stressed beat followed by one or more
unstressed beats. The bars or measures are separated from each other by bar-lines.
These are vertical lines running from the top of the stave to the bottom.
How to read music. 12

We can say that any piece of music is divided into bars and each bar is divided into
beats. We use time signature to tell us the number of beats in a bar.

TIME SIGNATURE
A time signature consists of two numbers, one on top of the other. You will find it at the
start of the music, to the right of the clef.

What does the time signature tell you?

The numerator of the fraction: How many beats in
each bar
The denominator of the fraction: The value of length
of each beat. The most common bottom number is 4
(this mean that the beat is a crotchet)

2/4 = Two crotchet beats in a bar

4/4 = Four crotchet beats in a bar
Sometimes the 4/4 time signature is shown by a symbol
which is an incomplete circle, similar to the letter C. This
represents Common Time.
A C with a line through the middle represents 2/2 and its
called Cut Common Time.
The Double Bar Line is composed of two vertical lines
through the stave and tells you that you have come to the end of the piece.
Exercises:
Write the name for each music symbol below
How to read music. 13

Fill in the blanks in the text, using the following words:

Quadruple / stand out / 3 beats / binary / time signature / 4 beats

Accented beats are those that ______________________ over others and help you
identify the type of _______________________ used in a piece of music.

They tell you the kind metre, such as __________________________ metre, which
has 2 beats, or ternary metre, which has __________________________ and
________________ metre, which has ___________________________________

Write in the number of beats and the note value corresponding to the following
time signatures:

2/4: Number of beats: Two / Note value: crotchet

3/8:

4/16:

4/8:

6/4:

3/2:

2/1:

Write in the note values corresponding to the time signatures given above:

2/4 = 2 crotchet beats per bar

3/8 = 4/16 =

4/8 = 6/4 =

3/2 = 2/1 =

Now answer these questions about time signatures:

Give the note value for a 2/4 bar:

Give the number of quavers in a bar:

Give the number of quavers in a 6/8 bar:

Give the number of semiquavers in 4/4 bar:

How to read music. 14

Adding Barlines

1. Add the missing barlines to these tunes. The first barline is given in each.

Adding Time Signatures

2. Add the time signature to each of these tunes.

How to read music. 15

MUSICAL FORM

All pieces of music are built on a plan.This is called the FORM of the piece.

Songs are made up of a number of musical PHRASES.

A phrase is a group of bars which can be sung in one breath, and usually ends on a
long note or with a rest. The length of a phrase is usually shown by drawing a curved
line over the bars.

Most musical phrases have an even number of bars, they are mostly four, eight or
sixteen bar long, but you will find some songs which contain three, five or even seven,
nine bar phrases.

All good music has repetition and contrast:

Repetition helps us to remember tunes easily.

Contrast prevents us from becoming bored.

You can write out the plan or form of the song by using letter names to label each
phrase.

We can find:

A A . Sometimes there is only one main tune in the song. This is called a unitary
form. This form is not often found in songs.

A A . When the second phrase is slightly different to the first one (for example, the
last note or the last bar is different)

A B .When the answering phrase is very, or completely different. This is called binary
form. This form is found in dance tunes and some folk songs, particularly those
associated with dancing.

A B A . The first and third are the same with a contrasting phrase in the middle. When
a song or instrumental piece has two musical ideas and finishes with a repeat of the
first idea the form is called ternary: A B A // A A B A // A B B A

REPEAT SIGNS

Repeat signs are indicators, in signs or words, which call for a repetition of certain
fragments that have already been played. The object is to simplify the score so as not
to write the same fragments again.

The most frequently used are:

The end-repeat sign: it says that after interpreting the whole

fragment, you have to start over again from the beginning (1),
How to read music. 16

unless you find two dots on the right of a double bar line that stops you in your way
back. In that case you have to repeat since this point (2).
1)

2)

1st time bar and 2nd time bar: Using these signs, the composer can vary the passage
the second time when a fragment is being repeated.

Da Capo or D.C.: This means from the start. You have to play the whole
composition again up to the place marked fine (end) on the score.
How to read music. 17

Which musical signs would you use to write these structures?

1) A B

2) A A B

3) A A B B

4) A B A

5) A B B

6) A B C

7) A B B C

8) A B C C

9) A B C B C

10) A B C A

11) A B C C

12) A B C A B

13) A A

14) A A B

15) A B B C

16) A A B C B C

17) A A B B C

18) A B C A B C D D
How to read music. 18

Do we play?

Twist

Titanic
How to read music. 19

TEMPO

Tempo is the speed at which you play a piece of music. The speed of the beat is what
determines the measure, or tempo, of a musical composition.

Here are some more Italian words used to indicate the speed of the music, they are
written above the stave:

Grave, Largo, Lento (very slow), Adagio (slow), Andante, Moderato (medium
tempo), Allegro (fast), Vivo, Vivace, Presto (very fast)

Apart from these words, you also can find some adverbs combined with the words
above:

Assai (very), Molto (very), Poco(a little), Ma Non Troppo (but no too much),
Quasi (almost), Pi(faster), Meno(slower)

This gives us indications such as:

Allegro ma non troppo, which means lively but not too lively or Pi Lento, a little
slower

A metronome is a device that produces a steady number of pulses (or

beats) in a minute. The pulses are measured in beats per minute (bpm).
You can use a metronome to measure uniform tempo markings by
marking each indication of measure or tempo coincide with the number of
beats per minute:

Largo: 40-60 Andante: 76-108 Allegro: 113-120 Presto: 168-200

A composer can also introduce variations in the uniform speed,

making the music more expressive, using:Words that indicate
a gradually slower speed: ritardandoand rallentando (these
words may appear on sheet music, abbreviated as rit. and
rall.,respectively)

Words that indicate a gradually faster speed: accelerando and

animando (these words may appear on sheet music,
abbreviated as accel. and anim., respectively.
How to read music. 20

Dynamics

The term dynamics refers to the intensity of volume with which the sound is
interpreted. Dynamics are relative and do not indicate specific volume levels.

Musical dynamic markings control the volume of a piece of music, and may be
signified by words, symbols, or both.

Sudden dynamic changes

Here are some Italian words that are used in music to tell you how loud or soft the
music should be. The letters in brackets show the shortened form of each word, they
usually appear as small bold letters under the stave.

Pianissimo (pp) = Very soft Mezzo forte (mf) = Moderately loud

Piano (p) = Soft Forte (f) = Loud
Mezzo piano (mp) = Moderately soft Fortissimo (ff) = Very loud

Remember that dynamic indications are relative, not absolute. mp does not indicate
an exact level of volume, it merely indicates that music in a passage so marked
should be a little louder than p and a little quieter than mf.

Sforzando (or sforzato), indicates a forceful, sudden accent and is abbreviated as

sz.

Gradual dynamic changes

When a composer writes a forte into a part, followed by a piano, the intent is for the
music to be loud, and then suddenly quiet. If the composer wants the change from
one dynamic level to another to be gradual, different markings are added. A
crescendo (sometimes abbreviated to cresc.) means "gradually get louder"; a
decrescendo (decresc.) or diminuendo (dim.) means "gradually get softer or quieter".

They can also be shown by

signs known as "hairpins". A
hairpin opening out is a
crescendo, one which closes is
a diminuendo or decrescendo.

Here are three different ways to write

the same thing: start softly (piano),
gradually get louder (crescendo) until
the music is loud (forte), then
gradually get quieter (decrescendo
or diminuendo) until it is quiet (piano)
again.
How to read music. 21

Identify the name of 5 types of dynamic markings in this letter soup:

P H X I F O K A K D O
V I S F O R Z A N D O
R J A P H P I A N O Y
P O T N I M V E X J E
A S A X I T C L V E Z
D F S I F S P V O K A
A D O R E S S T Q I B
L D K R W R T I S T J
J E C S T K M I M C V
O L M F I E O S X O I

Classify these dynamic markings as indicated:

1. A stable intensity or volume:

2. A variable intensity or volume:

Draw the dynamic signs and write their Italian names on the chart below:
DYNAMICS
Sign or Symbol Name Definition
fff Fortississimo As loud as possible
Very loud
Loud
Moderately loud
sfz Sforzando Sudden Force, accented
Moderately soft
Soft
Very soft
ppp Pianississimo As soft as possible
How to read music. 22

N Sign / Symbol Property It tells us

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

11)

12)

13)

14)