Reading Musical Notes
The ability to read music has eluded many, often times even professional musicians. Many fantastic musicians play music solely "by ear," and have had successful careers doing so. However, playing by ear is a special gift that has not been bestowed upon everyone. Learning to read music is another option for someone who wants to learn to play an instrument. A musician who reads and also plays by ear is best prepared for any job! Learning to read musical notes can also aid in singing, because when you know what notes you are singing you can learn a song faster and even gauge where you might place the notes depending on how high or low you read them to be.
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Instructions
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1
Discover the musical staff. The staff is made up of ten lines and ten spaces: five lines and spaces on top, representing the higher notes in what is called the treble clef; and five lines and spaces below, representing the lower notes in the bass clef. The bass clef looks like a backwards letter "C," and the treble clef is the big swirly looking symbol. Before attempting to read any notes, look to the left on the staff to determine which clef you are in.
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Memorize two sentences. In the treble clef, the notes on the lines (starting from the bottom line and moving up) are represented by the first letter in the following sentence: “Every Good Boy Does Fine.” Use the word, “FACE” to remember the notes placed on the four spaces in between the lines.
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Memorize two more sentences. In the bass clef, the notes on the lines are represented by the first letter in the following sentence, (starting again from the bottom and moving up): “Great Big Dogs Fight Always.” Use the sentence, “All Cows Eat Grass,” to remember the notes on the four spaces between the lines. You can now read all of the notes placed directly on the staff.
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Learn to read the notes that are placed on top of or below the staff. To figure out what these notes are, simply use the alphabet. As you move upward the notes are spelled out alphabetically in order. As you move down, remember to name the notes alphabetically backwards. You’ve learned that the top line of the bass clef is "A," so the first space after the "A" would be "B," the next line, “middle C,” (called middle because it is in between the bass and treble clef). The next space is "D," and then you have arrived at the first line of the treble clef which you learned is "E." In the same way, read the lines alphabetically on the top of the treble clef, and the bottom of the bass clef.
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Read the rhythmic value of the notes as well. If a single note is fully colored in, it is called a quarter note and gets 1 beat in the most common time. A single note that is not colored in is called a half note, and gets double the quarter note’s time, or 2 beats. A colored in note with a small flag at the end of the stem is called an eighth note, and receives 1/2 of a beat. Two eighth notes are commonly connected at the top. Together they equal 1 beat, so are played faster to get them both in. A note that has no stem is called a whole note, and receives all four beats on its own. These notes may have different values in different pieces of music set to different times, but they remain the same in association to each other: eighth, quarter, half, and whole.
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Pick up random pieces of music, and practice reading the notes. Often times, notes will be written on top of each other, creating chords and making your job of reading them a little tricky, but you’ll get the hang of it the more you do it! Show off your skills for your family and friends, and brag about the fact that you didn’t have to pay a cent to learn how to read music!!
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Tips & Warnings
Every line and space on an entire sheet of music goes in alphabetical order, alternating lines and spaces. Memorizing the sentences, and the notes they represent simply gives you a tool to name the notes quicker.
