How to Read the Musical Alphabet

If you've always had a mental block when comes to learning to read sheet music, start at the beginning by learning to read the musical alphabet. This is the number one fundamental of learning music theory, and it's as easy as learning your ABCs. Once you master the musical alphabet, you'll be able to build on your knowledge and read sheet music.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Piano or keyboard
• Sheet music

1. Understand that the musical alphabet is the seven letters of the alphabet from A through G. (These letters also correspond to do-re-mi-so-fa-la-ti that you may recall from "Sound of Music." )

2. The musical alphabet can be sung in any combination. Try singing the musical alphabet backwards, from G-F-E-D-C-B-A and then forwards, A-B-C-D-E-F-G.

3. Look at a piano keyboard. Each white key on a keyboard or piano represents a pitch on the musical alphabet, which repeats on the keyboard every seven letters.

4. Travel down the piano keyboard to the right and the notes will get higher. Likewise, the notes will get lower as you travel to the left.

5. Find the note called C by locating the white key that is directly to the left of a grouping of any two black keys. The one closest to the middle of the piano (often underneath the middle of the brand name of the piano) is middle C, a starting place for understanding music.

6. Look at a piece of sheet music. The musical alphabet is written on two musical staffs, either the bass clef or treble clef. Each line and space on a musical staff corresponds to a different pitch on the musical alphabet.

7. Find middle C on the sheet music, which is written below the musical staff with a line through it. The next note on the musical alphabet will be B, and it will occupy the space directly above C. The musical alphabet continues up the staff, alternating lines and spaces.

Resources

• The Study Bass website tells how to read sheet music.
• The Numbera website teaches about musical theory.

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[howtoplaybass]

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