How To Read Music Notes - learn to play piano / keyboard

Music Terms / Definitions:

Staff: A staff of music is made up of five horizontal lines and four spaces. Each line and space represents
a key on the piano. Notes and rests are then placed on the staff.

Clef: A clef is a symbol at the beginning of a staff of music which makes it possible for the player to work
out what the notes are. It indicates the pitch of the notes on that staff to be played. The two most
common clefs are the Treble Clef and Bass Clef.

Measure: Sheet music is divided into Measures. Each individual Measure lasts for the same time
duration, and can consist of a combination of notes and rests. A measure ends where a vertical bar line
goes through the staff (horizontal lines) on sheet music.

Note: A note is represented by a sign, which tells the musician the duration and pitch of a sound.

Pitch: The specific frequency of a sound. Notes to the right of the keyboard have a higher pitch than the
notes to the left.

Beat: A beat is the name for a unit of music. Musicians learn to count beats, and play notes for the
specified number of beats. Some use a metronome, this device counts out beats, and will tick according
to which timing you have set. Counting beats starts when the first note is played.

Time Signature: The time signature, also known as a “meter”, tells the musician how many notes are in
a measure.

Time Signatures (Meters):

The below table summarizes the different types of time signatures and their associated beats.

There are many more time signatures, but it is a good idea to start with the 4/4 time signature as it is
easier to count.

Below are the rules of the 4/4 time signature:

- There are 4 beats in one measure

- When you play a whole note, count out 4 beats
- When you play a half note, count out 2 beats
- When you play a quarter note, count out 1 beat and then move onto the next note.
- 2 eight notes should fit into 1 beat
- 4 sixteenth notes fit into 1 beat

Tip: When learning to play the piano / keyboard, count aloud to get used to the rhythm.
The table below displays the different types of notes and clefs. All definitions are located at the end of the
page.

Treble Clef:
When reading sheet music, you will notice that there is a treble clef at the top left hand corner of your music
book. The notes along side the treble clef are usually played with your right hand. There are 5 lines and 4
spaces beneath the treble clef, each of these lines and spaces represents a note on the piano. It is
important to learn them off by heart. These notes are located to the right of middle C.

Treble Clef Lines - E, G, B, D, F (Eat Good Bread Dear Father)

Treble Clef Spaces - F, A, C, E (Face).

Bass Clef:
Beneath the treble clef on sheet music, you will see a second set of lines and spaces with the Bass Clef
symbol on the left. This is to make it easier to read. The Bass Clef notes are usually played with your left
hand, and are lower in tone than the notes with the Treble Clef. To locate these notes, go one octave down
(the next C to the left of middle C), and locate the notes to the right of that note.

Bass Clef Lines - G, B, D, F, A (Good, Bread, Dear, Father, Ate)

Bass Clef Spaces - A, C, E, G, (Alice, Can, Eat, Grapes).

Musicians must learn how to count evenly, to make sure they are playing each note for the correct length of
time.

Tip: To begin you may prefer to write the corresponding notes on your sheet music to help.

Music Terms / Definitions for this page:

Staff: A staff of music is made up of five horizontal lines and four spaces. Each line and space represents a
key on the piano. Notes and rests are then placed on the staff.

Clef: A clef is a symbol at the beginning of a staff of music which makes it possible for the player to work out
what the notes are. It indicates the pitch of the notes on that staff to be played. The two most common clefs
are the Treble Clef and Bass Clef.

Measure: Sheet music is divided into Measures. Each individual Measure lasts for the same time duration,
and can consist of a combination of notes and rests. A measure ends where a vertical bar line goes through
the staff (horizontal lines) on sheet music.

Note: A note is represented by a sign which tells the musician the duration and pitch of a sound.

Pitch: The specific frequency of a sound. Notes to the right of the keyboard have a higher pitch than the
notes to the left.

Time Signature: The time signature, also known as a “meter”, tells the musician how many notes are in a
measure.

Beat: A beat is the name for a unit of music. Musicians learn to count beats, and play notes for the specified
number of beats. Some use a metronome, this device counts out beats, and will tick according to which
timing you have set. Counting beats starts when the first note is played.

Music Terms / Definitions for this page:

Rest: A rest is a symbol that corresponds to a note value. When reading a rest in sheet music no note is
played for the duration of the rest.

Beat: A beat is the name for a unit of music. Musicians learn to count beats, and play notes for the specified
number of beats. Some use a metronome, this device counts out beats, and will tick according to which
timing you have set. Counting beats starts when the first note is played.

Measure: Sheet music is divided into Measures. Each individual Measure lasts for the same time duration,
and can consist of a combination of notes and rests. A measure ends where a vertical bar line goes through
the staff (horizontal lines) on sheet music.

Note: A note is represented by a sign which tells the musician the duration and pitch of a sound.

Pitch: The specific frequency of a sound. Notes to the right of the keyboard have a higher pitch than the
notes to the left.

Notes as they appear on sheet music:

The above example consists of 3 measures of music. Each measure has 4 beats as the time signature is
4/4. You can have one whole note, two half notes or 4 quarter notes per measure or a combination of notes
that will give you 4 beats.

Now see if you can play the notes while counting. Note that the 4 notes in the third measure should take the
same length to play as the whole note in the first measure.

Rests:

The below table displays the symbols that represent rests, their names, and beats in 4/4 time.
Rests use the same beats per measure as their corresponding notes. Rests are always located in the above
positions, so you won’t miss them. A half rest always sits on the middle line, while a whole rest always hangs
from the fourth line up.

Tip: When you come to a rest on a sheet of music you should take your hand completely off the keyboard
for the appropriate length of time.