READ MUSIC NOTES

Articles on how to read music notes

You can learn to read music, no matter whether you are an adult or a child. The articles on this website for tips and tricks will help you read music easily and quickly.

PITCH

Pitch means whether the music notes are high or low (that is, high pitched or low pitched).

On the piano, high notes are located at the right end of the piano keyboard.

STAVES

When we write music down, we use a set of five parallel lines called the stave (or staff). Music notes are written on or between these lines. Higher pitched notes are written higher up on the stave; lower pitched notes are written lower down on the stave.

CLEFS

There are actually two staves (or staffs): the treble stave and the bass stave. They are marked by the treble clef and the bass clef respectively.



Treble Clef




Bass Clef


The treble stave is always written above the bass stave.

The treble stave indicates music notes with a higher range pitch; the bass stave indicates music notes with a lower range pitch.

MUSIC NOTES

Middle C

Between the treble stave and the bass stave is the note called Middle C.



The note, Middle C, sitting below the Treble Stave and above the Bass Stave


Notes on the Treble Stave



Notes on the Treble Stave

On the treble stave, the music notes are:
[on the lines] E G B D F
[in the spaces] F A C E


Notes on the Bass Stave



Notes on the Bass Stave


On the bass stave, the music notes are:
[on the lines] G B D F A
[in the spaces] A C E G


DURATION

The duration of a music note means how long or how short a music note is.

Differently-shaped notes define how long a note is, relative to the other notes surrounding it.

Here are the different kinds of notes...



A whole note (or semibreve)




A half note (or minum)




A quarter note (or crotchet)




An eighth note (or quaver)




A sixteenth note (or semiquaver)