How to read sheet music

 The structure of sheet music. Sheet music is set up with a specific structure. The staff of the
sheet music is made up of everything you will need to be able to read music. Depending on a
variety of factors, the staff will tell you exactly what notes you will need to play. The first thing
you need to do is be able to identify the staff. 

 What is the staff? The staff is a set of five lines and four spaces. Each space and line has
the name of a note. On the staff, you will find notes, a time signature, a clef sign, a key
signature, and various markings that will affect the tempo and pitch of each note. All of these
things work together to create the music that is played or sung.
 What are clefs and why do we use them? Based on what instrument you play -
piano, guitar(acounstic or bass), violin, trombone, you name it - or what voice you sing (tenor,
bass, alto, soprano, etc.) your music will be written in one of two clefs (treble clef & bass clef).
These clefs are used to let you know what octave you are playing the notes in, as well as what
notes will be played.

 The treble clef - The treble clef is used for most musical voices including soprano,
mezzo-soprano, alto, and tenor. It is also used for the higher pitched instruments such as
the alto clarinet, the B-Flat clarinet, the flute, oboe, violin and trumpet. The treble clef can
be memorized by the following acronyms. 

Lines - Every Good Boy Does Fine 

Spaces - F A C E

 The bass clef - The bass clef is used for the bass and baritone voices and lower
instruments such as the tuba, trombone, and sousaphone. The bass clef was created
because the notes for these lower instruments would be so low beneath the Treble Clef staff
it would be very hard to write music that was easy for players to read. 

The bass clef notes can be memorized by: 

Lines -Good Boys Do Fine Always 

Spaces - All Cows Eat Grass
The key signature: Some notes are flat, some are natural, and some are sharp. Which notes are
sharp, flat, or natural will be marked either next to individual notes if they are played as such
one or two times through a piece or in something called the key signature if they are played as
such throughout the entire piece. 

The key signature is located directly to the right of the clef sign. Which notes are sharp or flat
depend on scales and keys. To learn more about the various key signatures you can check out the

following website: http://cnx.org/content/m10881/latest/ Key Signature

The key signature comes right after the clef symbol on the staff. It may have either some sharp symbols on

particular lines or spaces, or some flat symbols, again on particular lines or spaces. If there are no flats or sharps

listed after the clef symbol, then the key signature is "all notes are natural".

In common notation, clef and key signature are the only symbols that normally appear on every staff. They appear

so often because they are such important symbols; they tell you what note is on each line and space of the staff. The

clef tells you the letter name of the note (A, B, C, etc.), and the key tells you whether the note is sharp, flat or

natural.

Figure 1

The key signature is a list of all the sharps and flats in the key that the music is in. When a sharp (or flat)

appears on a line or space in the key signature, all the notes on that line or space are sharp (or flat),

and all other notes with the same letter names in other octaves are also sharp (or flat).
 Figure 2: This key signature has a flat on the "B"
line, so all of these B's are flat.

The sharps or flats always appear in the same order in all key signatures. This is the same order in which they are

added as keys get sharper or flatter. For example, if a key (G major or E minor) has only one sharp, it will be F

sharp, so F sharp is always the first sharp listed in a sharp key signature. The keys that have two sharps (D major

and B minor) have F sharp and C sharp, so C sharp is always the second sharp in a key signature, and so on. The

order of sharps is: F sharp, C sharp, G sharp, D sharp, A sharp, E sharp, B sharp. The order of flats is the

reverse of the order of sharps: B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat, C flat, F flat. So the keys with only one flat

(F major and D minor) have a B flat; the keys with two flats (B flat major and G minor) have B flat and E flat; and so

on. The order of flats and sharps, like the order of the keys themselves, follows a circle of fifths.

Figure 3

If you do not know the name of the key of a piece of music, the key signature can help you find out. Assume for a

moment that you are in a major key. If the key contains sharps, the name of the key is one half step higher than

the last sharp in the key signature. If the key contains flats, the name of the key signature is the name of the

second-to-last flat in the key signature.

EXAMPLE 1

Figure 4 demonstrates quick ways to name the (major) key simply by looking at the key signature. In flat keys, the

second-to-last flat names the key. In sharp keys, the note that names the key is one half step above the final sharp.
 Figure 4

The only major keys that these rules do not work for are C major (no flats or sharps) and F major (one flat). It is

easiest just to memorize the key signatures for these two very common keys. If you want a rule that also works for

the key of F major, remember that the second-to-last flat is always a perfect fourth higher than (or a perfect fifth

lower than) the final flat. So you can also say that the name of the key signature is a perfect fourth lower than the

name of the final flat.

Figure 5: The key of C major has no sharps or flats. F

major has one flat.

If the music is in a minor key, it will be in the relative minor of the major key for that key signature. You may be

able to tell just from listening (see Major Keys and Scales) whether the music is in a major or minor key. If not,

the best clue is to look at the final chord. That chord (and often the final note of the melody, also) will usually name

the key.

EXERCISE 1
Write the key signatures asked for in Figure 6 and name the major keys that they represent.

Figure 6

 The time signature: Near the beginning of the staff, there is a symbol marking, or a
fraction. This tells how many notes per measure will be played. The staff is split up into
measures. Each measure is separated by a vertical line. The standard key signature is 4/4
time. It is usually denoted by a large black C.

Other common time signatures are 2/2 time (cut time), 2/4 time, 3/4 time, and 6/8 time. The
time signature is written after the key signature, but before any notes on the staff.

 Notes, notes, and more notes. The fundamental structure of each pitch is denoted by a music
note. There are plenty of things you need to know about a note before you can play or sing
music. The most common things you will need to know is how long to hold each note, whether
the note is sharp, natural, or flat, and what the name of each note is so it can be played. 

 Name that note: Notes have a letter name from A-G. Once a note gets to G, it starts over
again at A. Notes from A to A, B to B, C to C, and so on denote one whole octave. Octaves can
move up or down, and the standard singer has between two and four octaves their voice can
sing comfortably.

 Hold the note as long as you can! It would be difficult for an orchestra to make music
together if they did not know how long to hold each note. Each instrument would go off on
their own beat or melody, and nothing would come together properly. This is why it is so
important you know what each note looks like and how long you are supposed to hold the note
based on how they look. 

Whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes are common in sheet music. There are other types
of notes though these are less common. The notes work together with the time signature to
determine how many beats per measure should be held. The standard hold for each note is
written with the time signature of 4/4 in mind. However, as time signatures change, how long
you hold the note will change, as well. 
  All those funny symbols. There are many different symbols throughout sheet music. Every
symbol is important. Based on what symbol you are looking at you may need to play notes or the
musical piece in general faster or slower, bars should be repeated, notes should be held, or the
music should get louder or quieter. 

Tempo changes. The changes in tempo are denoted by a symbol for an Italian word. Here is a list and
pictures of the various tempo changes music can experience: 

Tempo Terminology - Tempo Qualifiers

| Basic Directives | | Tempo Qualifiers | | Changing Tempo |

Expression English Example End Result

It. A poco a little by little accelerando poco a poco becoming
poco faster little
by little
Fr. Peu à peu accélerez peu à peu
Ger. allmählich allmälich schneller werden
It. Assai,molto very, much, Presto assai or molto presto very fast
quite
Fr. très Très vif
Ger. Sehr, ganz Sehr schnell or ganz lebhaft
It. con with Con brio With spirit
Fr. avec Avec verve
Ger. mit Mit schwungvoll
It. Meno Less Meno vivace Not so fast
Fr. Moins Moins vif
Ger. weniger Weniger schnell
It. Non troppo Not too much Largo non troppo Slow, but
not too
Fr. Pas trop Pas trop lent
much
Ger. Nicht zu Nicht zu langsam
It. Più more Più vivace faster
Fr. Plus Plus vite
Ger. (suffix) er Eileger or lebhafter
It. Pochissimo A very little Pochissimo ritard A slight
 Fr. Un peu Cédez un peu ritard
Ger. etwas Etwas zuruckhalten
It. Poco, un A little, Poco adagio Somewhat
poco somewhat slow
Fr. Un peu Un peu lent
Ger. Ein wenig Ein wenig langsam
It. quasi Like, almost Moderato quasi andante Moderately
like an
andante

Volume changes. Changes in volume help to improve the mood of the piece. Not every piece of
music is sung or played as loud as the person can sing. Changes in volume help to make the
music more enjoyable and dramatic so works are not stagnant in tone. Here is a list of the

following volume changes as well as pictures of their symbols: Table of Dynamic

Markings
 

Term Abbreviation Definition

Piano p Soft volume
Pianissimo pp  
Pianississimo ppp Very soft volume
Pianissississimo pppp  
Pianississississimo ppppp Extremely soft volume
Pianissississississimo pppppp As soft as possible
Mezzo-forte mf Medium loud volume
Mezzo-piano mp Medium soft volume
Fortissississimo ffff As loud as possible
Fortississimo fff Extremely loud volume
Fortissimo ff Very loud volume
Forte f Loud volume
Begin the note loudly
Forzando or Forzato fz or ffz with a very strong
accent
Sforzando sf or sff or sfff Loud and accented
Sforzato sfz or sffz or sfffz Loud and accented
 
Combined Markings Abbreviation Definition
Soft then immediately
Pianoforte pf
loud
Loud and accented then
Fortepiano fp
immediately soft
Begin the note very
loudly, instantly
Fortissimo piano ffp
diminishing to a much
softer volume.
Begin the note
moderately loudly,
Mezzoforte piano mfp
instantly diminishing to
a much softer volume.
Begin the note loudly,
with a marked and
Sforzando piano sfp sudden emphasis,
instantly diminishing to
a much softer volume.
 
Dynamic Transitions Abbreviation Definition
Gradually increase
cresc.
Crescendo or volume
Decrescendo or 
Gradually decrease
decr. or decresc.
volume

Gradually decrease
dim.
Diminuendo or  volume

 Other symbols - There are many other symbols such as holds, ties, crescendo marks,
repeats, rests, and so much more. Depending on how long you have studied music you may or
may not know what these symbols mean. 

Check out Virginia Tech's music dictionary for an explanation of all of the terms and symbols
that are necessary to know if you plan to read sheet
music: http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/
 Pianos do things differently. Pianos are unique in the fact that they are one of the few
instruments which use both the treble clef and the bass clef at the same time. While a clarinet
player only needs to know the treble clef to play and a bass only needs to know the bass clef to
sing, pianists need to know both if they wish to learn piano and excel at their craft. 

The left hand of a pianist is used to play the notes on the bass clef of piano sheet music. The
right hand of a pianist is used to play the notes on the treble clef of the piano sheet music. One
of the hardest parts of playing the piano is learning to read both clefs and play them at the same
exact time since piano music is written in such a way that both hands are used to play at the
same time. This takes quite a bit of practice until a pianist can truly get the hang of it.

 Learn from a professional - Take music lessons. If you wish to become a singer or musician,
you must learn how to read sheet music in music lessons. Solid music education is immensely
helpful in learning to play guitar, piano, oboe, violin or any instrument. A professional has been
trained to the point where it is second nature to read music, and all the various instrumentation
markings that are listed in the music. 

There are many different places you can take music lessons. Your local College or University
should be able to offer non-student music education to those who are willing to pay for it.
Usually, these music lessons cost upwards of $20 per half an hour lesson. You may also know
someone in your area that is interested in giving you lessons at a lower rate. 

To find a musical professional in your area you can check out: http://www.musicstaff.com

 Study on your own. The Internet has given you the opportunity to learn how to read sheet music
on your own. Many online music sites and music software programs go more in depth than this
article has. It takes musicians years to learn everything they need to know about sheet music
and even then it is a constantly evolving process. 

If you are serious about learning how to read music and play the instrument of your choice,
check out the following music sites: 

 Piano For All

 How to Read Music

 Reading Music Notes - For Kids

 Reading Music Notes - For Adults

 Learn 2 Read Music

 Introduction to Reading Music

  Music Lab

Learning how to read sheet music should be fun. However, it is also requires a lot of hard work and
dedication. Nobody said learning to play piano is easy or learning guitar chords is a piece of cake. It all
requires patience and practice. However, with the right motivation, it will be worth it and you will soon be
playing, singing, or even learning to compose sheet music of your own. Taking music lessons and/or buying
music software is money well-invested.