Basic Musical Notation

Especially in the days before audio recording and playback,

music was often written out as a means of preserving and
communicating it. To do this, a system of notation was
developed that gives musicians the information they need to
play music as the composer intended it.
Here is a list of topics discussed on this page:

The Staff
Clefs
The Grand Staff
Measures
Notes
Notes Written on the Staff
Ledger Lines
Note Durations
Dotted Notes
Rests
Accidentals
Ties and Slurs
Articulation
Dynamics
Repeats
Time Signatures

The Staff
The staff is the basis of written music. It is what the notes are
presented on. It consists of 5 lines with four spaces between
them. A simple, unadorned staff is shown below.

Clefs

This is the treble staff. The treble clef (the large fancy symbol
to the far left) shows the musician that the staff is treble.
Since it curls around the G line, it is also called a G clef. The
treble staff begins with the first line as E. Each successive
space and line is the next letter in the musical alphabet. The
staff ends with the last line as an F. Many mnemonic devices
exist to help a person remember which line and space is
which. One of the most common phrases to remember the
names of the lines is: Every Good Boy Does Fine. (Also
popular isElvis' Guitar Broke Down Friday). To remember the
spaces, just remember that they spell FACE starting from the
bottom.

This is the bass (pronounced 'base' ) staff. The bass clef, also
known as the F clef because it locates the line known as F, is
on the far left. The bass clef uses the same musical alphabet
as treble, but the letters start in different places. Instead of an
E, the bottom line is a G, and the letters proceed logically from
there. Again, simple mnemonics can be used to remember the
names of the notes. The lines on the bass cleft, from bottom to
top are: G, B, D, F, A (GoodBoys Don't Fight Anyone), and the
spaces are A,C,E,G (All Cows EatGrass).

This is a C clef. The C clef can move on the staff, and the
center of the symbol is always over middle C. Depending on
where it is, it is given different names. The note beside each
clef is middle C. These clefs are used very infrequently.

The Grand Staff

When the bass and treble clef are combined and connected by
a brace (left) and lines, they become the grand staff. This
greatly increases the range of pitches that can be noted, and is
often used in piano music, due to the piano's wide range.

Measures

The vertical lines on the staff mark the measures. Measures

are used to divide and organize music. The time
signature determines how many beats can be in a measure.
The thick double bars mark the beginning and ends of a piece

of music. Measures are sometimes marked with numbers to

make navigating a piece easier. The first measure would be
measure one, the second measure two and so on.

Notes
Different pitches are named by letters. The musical alphabet
is, in ascending order by pitch, A, B, C, D, E, F and G. After G,
the cycle repeats going back to A. Each line and space on the
staff represents a different pitch. The lower on the staff, the
lower the pitch of the note. Notes are represented by little
ovals on the staff. Depending on the clef (discussed below),
the position of each note on the staff corresponds to a letter
name.

Notes Written on the Staff

Notes are centered on the lines or in the spaces between the

lines. Stems on notes above the middle line trail down from
the left of the note. Stems on notes below the middle line stick
up on the right of the note. Stems on notes on the line usually
go down except when adjacent notes have flags that go up.
Note stems are usually one octave (eight successive lines and
spaces) long. When two melodies occupy the same staff, the
stems for the notes in one melody are written up and the
stems for notes in the other are written down.

Ledger Lines

Ledger lines extend above and below the staff, allowing for
higher or lower notes to be shown than would otherwise fit on
the staff. These lines follow the same musical alphabet pattern
as the staff does. Think of them as just extra lines and spaces
on the end of the staff.
The stems of notes on ledger lines extend either up or down
towards the middle line.

Note Durations
All notes have length. However, the number of beats they get
depends on the time signature, so only relative note durations
will be discussed here.

This graphic shows a heirarchy of note values.

At the top is a whole note (1). A half note is half the duration
of a whole note, so a whole note is as long as two half notes
(2). Likewise, a half note is as long as two quarter notes (3). A
quarter note is as long as two eighth notes (4), and an eighth
note is as long as two sixteenth notes (5).

Sixteenth notes (right) and eighth notes (left) may also look
like this. Single sixteenth and eighth notes have flags, many
sixteenth and eighth notes combine flags into connecting bars.

Sixteenth notes and eighth notes may also combine together.

the combination looks like this picture to the left.

Dotted Notes

A dot beside a note increases its duration by half its original

value. For example, half notes, in 4/4 time, are worth 2 beats.
When a dot is placed next to the half note, the duration is
increased by one (one being half of the original duration of
two) and the resulting duration is three beats. The curved line
in the picture above is a tie. Ties connect notes that are the
same pitch together to create a sustained note.

Rests

Rests are simply places where the musician does not play.
Rests have equivalent values to corresponding notes of
duration. Thus, there is a whole rest, half rest, quarter rest,
etc., just like normal notes. Rests are always located in the
same vertical position.

Accidentals
Accidentals modify the pitch of a note by increasing or
decreasing it by one half step. Accidentals stay in effect for all
notes of the same pitch for the rest of the measure. When
these same symbols appear at the very beginning of the music
they are specifying a key signature.

Flats (left side of the picture) lower the pitch of the note by
one half step.
Sharps (right side of picture) raise the pitch of the note by one
half step.

Naturals cancel out any previous sharps or flats. The pitch

returns to normal.

Ties and Slurs

Ties and slurs connect two or more notes together. Ties

connect notes of the same pitch, forming essentialy one longer
note. Slurs smoothly connect notes of different pitch. This
means to play the notes without breaks. The first set of notes
above exhibit a tie. The second show a slur.

Articulation

Staccato - Means to play the note very short and detatched.

Accent - Means to hit the note harder and louder.

Marcato - Almost a combination of staccato and accent,

provides a sharp sound.

Tenuto - Hold the note for its full value.

Sforzando - A sudden, strong accent.

Fermata - Hold the note longer, approximately half again as

long (1.5x), or until conducted to stop.

Dynamics

This symbol is pianissimo, it means play very softly.

This symbol is piano, it means play softly.

This symbol is mezzo piano, it means play moderately soft.

This symbol is mezzo forte, it means play moderately loud.

This symbol is forte, it means play loudly.

This symbol is fortissimo, it means play very loudly.

Also abbreviated Cresc. or written in as crescendo. This sign is

the crescendo sign, it means gradually become louder.

Also abbreviated as Decresc. or written as decrescendo, dim.,

or diminuendo. This sign is decrescendo, it means gradually
become softer.

Repeats

These are the begin and end repeat signs. When you reach the
second, go back to the first and repeat the music. These are
often accompanied by first, second and even third endings.

This is a directional marking. It means 'Del Signo'. When you

see this in music, you must go to the sign (below). This
marking may also be accompanied by 'al coda' or 'al fine'.
These mean 'Go to the sign, from there go to the coda' and
'Go to the sign, from there go to the end' respectively.
Essentially these are big repeat signs.

This is the sign. From here you play to the coda or the end or
wherever the Dal Segno directs you.

This is the coda sign. It marks when to go to the special

ending, or coda. Usually you won't go to the coda until after a
D.S. al coda.

Time Signatures
The time signatures (also called meter signatures) tell the
musician how many beats per measure there are, and what
kind of note gets the beat.

The top number determines how many beats there are per
measure. The bottom number tells what kind of note gets the
beat. In this example, 4/4 time, there are 4 beats per
measure, and the quarter note (bottom 4) gets the beat. In
3/4 time, the quarter note would still get the beat, but there
would only be 3 beats in a measure. In 6/8 time, the eigth
note gets the beat, and there are 6 beats to a measure.
The pulse (or meter) is the driving beat in music that we
march, feel, dance, clap and conduct to. First find the beat that
seems the strongest, then try tapping along to it. Eventually
you should be able to tap along with the music, and you will
have found the pulse. Listen to the bass line and the rhythm
section, as often they play with the pulse.