How to Read Sheet Music

If you don't know how to read sheet music, looking at it can be like looking at a book written in a foreign language. Here is a breakdown of what all those symbols mean on a piece of sheet music.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sheet music

1. 

   First have a piece of sheet music in front of you, so you can refer to it as we go along. We will start with the very first box on the left. The first thing you will see is that the music is broken into two sections, a bottom and a top. The top has 5 lines running across it, then a space and the bottom has 5 lines running across it.

2. 

   The notes (the black or white dots on the page) will either have a line running through it or it will be in a space. This tells you what note you are to play. For example an e will have a line going through it and an F will be in the space. The vertical lines on the left side or the right side of the dots are for timing purposes and have nothing to do with what note it is.

3. 
   Treble Clef

   Now on the top section on the far left is a symbol. This is the Treble Clef, it is also called a G Clef by some. This symbol means that your right hand will be playing the notes to follow. Please note that if this music is for a flute, for example, you will only see the Treble Clef.

4. 

   On the bottom section on the far left is a symbol. This is the Bass Clef, it is also called a F Clef by some. This symbol means that your left hand will be playing the notes to follow.

5. 
   Sharp

   On the top and bottom you will see either a sharp or a flat symbol. The sharp symbol looks like the number symbol (#) and the flat symbol looks like a modified lower case b (b). The sharp symbol tells you what notes to sharpen throughout the piece and the flat symbol tell you what notes to flatten during the piece. You will see a line either going through the sharp or flat or they will be in between the line, sitting on a space. You are looking at the center of the sharp (the box in the center of the sharp) and the circle part of the b not the line that goes on the left to figure out what note it is telling you to make sharp or flat. This is also referred to as Key Signature and by looking at either the sharps or flats you then know what key the piece is played in.

6. 
   The numbers are Time Signature

   Next you will see numbers. These tell you what the beat is. They will show like a fraction with one number on top of the other. This is called time signature. In this piece of music the time signature is 3/4.

7. Next is all the black and white dots. They are the notes. If you want to learn how to read the black and white dots, please go to my article on How to Read Piano Music.
   
   There are more symbols throughout a piece of music and they all have a meaning, they can be telling you to play the music soft or loud, smoothly or quickly and happy or somber.

Resources

• How to Read Piano Music

[WesleyJ]

on 9/16/2008 Very nicely written! played piano as a younster and you give some great explanations. Absolutely 5 stars! Thank you so much