How to Read Music Scores

Whether you need to know how a piece of music fits together, or want to keep track of instruments in an orchestra, you can do so easily by reading a music score. A music score is a piece of sheet music that guides you through the different instrumentation that is in a band, symphony, quartet or even a solo instrument. By understanding how to read a music score, you can easily follow along with the music that is being played.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Define the instrumentation. The first guideline that is a part of any piece of music is the instrumentation that is used. Understanding what needs to be played from the beginning also provides you with a direct guide to how the piece of music sounds. If you are not looking at a music score from a solo instrument, then you want to look at the side of the staff to define the different instruments that are used in the arrangement.

2. Know your tempo. After you know what is being played, you want to know exactly how quickly the music will move. There are two ways to determine this. At the beginning of the sheet music is a tempo guideline. Typically, this lets you know whether it is slow, medium or fast. There is also a time signature. This lets you know how many beats are in the measure from the top number and lets you know what type of note gets one beat, from the bottom number. This helps you to define what note lands on one and is accented throughout the music.

3. Get into the key signature. The key signature lets you know how many flats or sharps are in the key signature. More importantly, it defines the tonal center. A tonal center is the base or foundation of the piece of music. Any instrument always comes back to this tonal center at the end of the music and anytime there needs to be a sense of release. For instance, if the key signature is C, then the tonal center is the note C. The flats and sharps that are around this, if any, define what notes are played around this tonal center. If you are unsure about this, you can use guidelines, such as the circle of fifths, or scales to help you define the center.
   
   You want to keep in mind, with larger music scores, that the tonal centers may be different for different types of instruments. Most instruments play in what is known as concert key and are on the same note that is stated. However, other instruments play in a different key that matches with the same tone as the concert key. For example, if you have a flute, it will play in concert key. This means that, if you are in the key signature of C, they will play the scale of C, with C as the tonal center. A trumpet will play a step lower then the concert key. When the flutes are playing a C, the trumpets play a B, which sounds like the same note. You want to make sure you understand what plays in concert key, and what is in a different key to match the same pitches.

4. Reading the staff. Your next step is making sure that you play the right notes on the right staff line. The staff is divided by lines and spaces. The lines represent one note and the space represents a second note. When you begin looking at instruments on the staff, you will notice that there is a bass clef and a treble clef. The bass clef has notes that are lower and the treble clef has notes that are higher. With the treble clef, you start on the 'e' note above middle 'c.' This then goes up note by note. For example, the 'f' note will be on the space above the 'e'. The bass clef works the same way, but starts on a low 'g' then moves up by lines and spaces.
   
   You should keep in mind, that if you are reading a viola line or other mid-range instrument, that there may be the use of an alto or tenor clef. This works the same way, but starts the notes in a different space. The area where the indent is on the clef signifies middle 'c'. You then work up or down on the staff in the same way.
   
   If you are just getting into different instruments, you want to define where middle 'c' is on each instrument. For piano, it is in the center of the keyboard. Other instruments can match to this pitch. The measurement of this is divided by the number of herz, or sound frequency. Every time a note plays, it builds a wave of sound. On each instrument, this wave of sound is the same with specific pitches.

5. Put your score together. The best way to read a score, especially if it has a grand staff (bass clef and treble clef), like in a piano score, or more then one instrument, is to think of it as a matrix. You want to read across the staff, as well as up and down between instruments.The idea is to line each of the notes up to each other so you know what plays with each note. You also want to read across so you understand how the music moves together from one note to the next.

Tips & Warnings

• Start with reading a simple score, such as a piano score. As you get better at reading, move to larger scores that have four or more instruments. Memorize the notes on the staff and memorize them on the instruments you are looking at so you know where you are going on the staff.

Resources

• Guide to music scores and scoring
• Tutorials on reading music
• More about how to learn to read scores