Reading music is perceived to be as tricky and complex as it is with any other new concept, but if we put forth the effort to study at least the basic fundamentals of reading music, the complicated sheet music will now somehow become understandable.
The first thing to study about is the musical staff. The staff is made up of five lines and four spaces; these spaces and lines are the places we will be inscribing our notes. The first symbol written on the staff is the clef. The two most commonly used clefs are the Treble Clef, also known as G-Clef, and the Bass Clef, also known as the F-Clef.
The Treble clef is utilized for most musical voices and most of the stringed, woodwind and high-brass instruments, while the Bass clef is utilized for lower-pitch instruments.
The next symbol is the time signature . The top number in the time signature determines the number of beats per measure-- a measure being the space between two bars or vertical lines in the staff; meanwhile, the bottom number in a time signature determines what kind of note receives one beat.
For example, if the top number is six, then that indicates 6 beats to the measure. If the bottom number is an 8, then the eighth note will receive one count.
The third item is the musical notes and rests. This is one of the most important parts in learning how to read music, and you must become familiar with the various types and values of notes. There is the round whole note; the whole note with a bar attached to it is the half note; a half note with a filled in circle is called a quarter note; a quarter note with a single tail is an eighth note; while a quarter note with double tails is a sixteenth note.
The fourth concept is the musical rests; each rest corresponds to the values of the notes we have discussed above.
We have discussed the foundation of music notation, but there is much more to learn about reading music, You must begin to grasp the basic counting of the beats, other musical symbols like the fermata and tie, and the shaping and volume of music. The latter is divided into three: the volume of notes, markings that affect the notes and markings that affect the speed of the notes.
With all this in mind, we can now start to practice reading printed music!
Angela Nazario, is a freelance Internet administrator who enjoys writing articles about learning to play music for Music Wizard's "Music Library" . WEBMASTERS: Using this article requires links to remain in place.
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