This page is dedicated for people who are just starting to learn music, music enthusiasts   who would like to know how to read music but are afraid of the hard stuff.

I've talked to many music enthusiasts and many even play musical instruments expertly and the one thing that they are afraid of is reading it.

To tell you frankly I was once one of them and at an early stage of my life,
one of the subjects I hate most was music. I just couldn't understand then,  why the DO  transfers residence every time we change the key ( say from the key of C to the key of D). Up to now I hate the idea and never read music that way.

So if you want to learn with me, let us forget about DO RE MI for the mean time .  I assure you,  you will read music more easily if you forget about that idea for the mean time. You should go DO RE MI only if and only if you have understood the very basics ... the ABC's of music.

So, next we will re-write Julie Andrews favorite song in the classical movie The Sound of Music
as follows:

(start of song)

Let's start from the key of C.
A very good place to start.
When we count we begin with 1 2 3
When we spell we begin with A  B  C

When we sing we begin with C  D  E ... C  D  E...

C  D  E  F  G  A  B

C - a letter that follows B
D- a letter that follows C
E- a letter that follows  D
F - a letter that follows E
G - a letter that follows F
A - a note that follows G   (this is the only note you have to memorize)
B - a letter that follows A
That will bring us back to C

(Next the kids will say:)
Now that makes sense. And it simply means the alphabet !!!

(end of song)

See how simple it is. And you don't even have to know that the DO is a female deer or that
the RE is a drop of golden sun and keep misspelling words.

If you want to learn reading music faster, either you buy a keyboard or piano and take up piano lessons, or you get yourself a  music writing software.
There are a lot of music writing software in the Internet,
but you should get one that can play the music after writing it. There's a good one at http://www.voyetra.com (email info@voyetra.com) called Music Write (included in a CD package called Discovering Music) where you can write notes and other symbols by the usual windows drag and drop and for a listing  there's a nice place to find it at  http://www.zdnet.com/     Just search for the keyword "Music"  in this site http://www.zdnet.com/
 

Now let us see how this C D E F G A B notes look when written.
Don't be afraid now, its very simple.
These notes never transfer residence. They have a permanent address on the musical staff,
and it is just a succession of letters in the alphabet.

First let us review some important items to study. I have organized these lessons as much as possible.
You can skip this review anytime, and go to PART II

The staff is simply five horizontal lines where we write the notes.

It is called a Treble Staff when we write the Treble Clef symbol on it like this:

One good clue is: the girls usually sing the Treble Staff part (Soprano and Alto).
 

It is called a Bass Staff when we write the Bass Clef symbol on it like this:

Here's another clue; the boys usually sing the Bass Staff part in a choir (Tenor and Bass)

Have you ever been told by the conductor in a choir that you are out of timing?
Well, this bar is one of the references that the conductor uses to coordinate your timing.
In a bar a series of events occur which could be notes or rests .

The number of events that occur in a bar is defined by the time signature.

The double bar indicates the end of a musical piece.

The Time Signature

Have you ever been told by the conductor in your choir that you are out of  timing?
Well, this time signature is another  reference for the conductor on how he coordinates the timing for your songs.

This time signature is written beside (on the right)  the Clef symbol (G clef or Bass clef) usually only at the beginning of the musical piece, after which it is understood to be carried out for the rest of the Staves  even if it is not written.

Time signatures are determined by the musical formula (which is not a mathematical formula; the slash is not a division symbol):

x/y where x is the number of beats per bar; and
               y determines the note or rest that is equivalent to one beat

If the time signature is not written at all for the entire musical piece, it is understood to be in the:
4/4 time signature.

Here are some very common time signatures where the quarter note is equivalent to one beat:

4/4 time signature - 4 beats per bar ; you count 1 to 4 repeatedly;  evenly spaced as 1  and 2 and 3 and 4 and...
3/4 time signature - 3 beats per bar ; you count 1 to 3 repeatedly;  evenly spaced as 1 and 2 and 3 and ...
2/4 time signature - 2 beats per bar; you count 1 to 2 repeatedly;  evenly spaced as 1 and 2 and ...

The following are time signatures are not commonly used where the eigth note is equivalent to one beat:

3/8 time signature - 3 beats per bar; you count 1 to 3 repeatedly, evenly spaced as 1 and 2 and 3 and...
6/8 time signatures - 6 beats per bar ; you count 1 to 6 reapeatedly, evenly spaced as 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and...

The Note; simply explained is a symbol which denotes the presence of musical sound.

The Rest; simply explained is the absence of sound.

The following duration of notes will apply to 2/4; 3/4; and 4/4 time signatures:

The whole note   - also known as Semi-breve ; corresponds to 4 full beats
TheHalf note- also known as minim ; corresponds to 2 beats

The Quarter note- also known as crochet; corresponds to one beat

 The Eigth note -  also known as quaver; corresponds to 1/2 beat or two eight notes in one beat
The Sixteenth Note - also known as semi-quaver; corresponds to 1/4 beat or 4 sixteenth notes in one beat

Dotted Notes - indicated by a Dot placed just after the Note; If you see this dot after the Note; you simply add one note of the next  lower duration note.

Example of  Dotted Note:

- This example shows a Dotted Half Note. Here we simply add the next lower duration note which in this example is a Quarter Note. This means that this symbol indicates a Half Note + Quarter Note = 2 beats + 1 beat = 3 beats !!!
This means that a Dotted Half Note = 3 beats

another clue: you cannot put a whole note on a staff with a 3/4 or 2/4 time signature because the total number of beats (per bar)
is less then 4 .

In 3/8 and 6/8 time signatures the Eight noteis equivalent  to one beat.

Triplet - We know now, that a note can be divided into two equal parts (a whole note = 2 half notes, etc.) Sometimes however, the composer wants to divide a note into 3 equal parts.
                      For instance, he wants to fit 3 notes of equal duration in a bar on a 4/4 time signature. If he puts 3 quarter notes, this would be against the rule since a bar in a 4/4 time siganature is equal to 4 beats (4 quarter notes).
                      In order for him to do this he has to use the triplet sign and divide a whole note (4 beats) into triplets.

A triplet is indicated by a triplet sign above or below a group of 3 notes. However, the composer sometimes writes this triplet sign in the first few notes after which the rest is understood to be triplets.
In order to decide which note is equivalent to a given triplet, just substitute it with the note that divides the next longer duration note into two parts.

Here is a list of triplets and its equivalent:

= = = 3 x (4/3) beats = 3 x (1 + 1/3) beats = 3 x 1.33 beats
=  = = 3 x (2/3) beats = 3 x 0.66 beats
= = = 3 x (1/3) beats = 3 x 0.33 beats
= == 3 x [(1/2)/3] beats =3 x (1/6) beats = 3 x 0.166 beats

Here is a sample piece using triplets taken from the song "Chi-chi-rit-chit":
(Click on the staff to play the tune)

 
 
 
 
 

The following duration of notes will apply to 2/4; 3/4; and 4/4 time signatures:

The whole rest   - also known as Semi-breve rest; corresponds to 4 full beats; see figure below.

The Half rest  - also known as minim rest ; corresponds to 2 beats; see figure below

The Quarter rest - also known as crochet rest; corresponds to one beat; see figure below

 The Eighth rest -  also known as quaver rest; corresponds to 1/2 beat or two eight notes in one beat; see figure below

The Sixteenth Rest- also known as semi-quaver rest; corresponds to 1/4 beat or 4 sixteenth notes in one beat; see figure below

In 3/8 and 6/8 time signatures the Eigth rest is equivalent  to one beat.

Rest symbols look like this fugure below: (Written in 4/4 time signature)

Dotted Rests - as in the Dotted Note; Dotted Rest is also indicated by a dot after the Rest Symbol and we simply add
                          the next lower duration rest to it.

Example of  Dotted Rest:
- in this example we have a Dotted Quarter Rest, so we simply add an Eighth rest to the Quarter Rest
            before the dot.
            Quarter Rest + Eighth Rest = 1 beat + 1/2 beat = 1 1/2 Beat
            So there are 1 1/2 (One and a Half) Beat in a Dotted Quarter Rest

My apologies for the erroneous illustrations on Part II which I have subsequently corrected.
Thanks to Monica for her great advice.

Rudy Ong
(Webitor)

Back to Top
Back to home page
Go to Part II
Go to Part III
Go to Part IV