How to Read Piano Sheet Music
Recognize lines and spaces., Recognize clefs., Recognize key signature., Recognize the time signature., Recognize measures.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Recognize lines and spaces.
When you look at sheet music, you will see five lines with four spaces between them.
These are collectively called the staff.
Both the lines and the spaces are used as locations for notes, and where on those notes fall determines the pitch of the note.
What pitch is assigned to the line or space is determined by the clef, discussed below.
Lines and spaces can also be created above and below the normal five by drawing short lines as needed to indicate the note. -
Step 2: Recognize clefs.
Clefs are different shapes, located at the very beginning of a music staff, which tell you what pitches are on what line or space of the staff.
They are usually recognizable because they are large and cover all five lines.
Although several clefs exist, you will only need to know two for reading piano music:
A treble clef or G-clef is the clef or symbol you will usually see associated with music, so it should look familiar.
It looks vaguely similar to an ampersand (or “&” symbol).
The lines, from the bottom up to the top, indicate the following pitches:
E,G,B,D, and F.
The spaces, from the bottom up to the top, indicate the following pitches:
F, A, C, and E.
A bass clef or F-clef looks a little like a backward c with two dots behind the arc.
The lines, from the bottom up to the top, indicate the following pitches:
G,B,D, F, and A.
The spaces, from the bottom up to the top, indicate the following pitches:
A, C, E, and G. , The key signature tells you which notes get changed.
The whole or normal pitches are labeled with letters (ABCDEFG), but there are also half-steps between those notes which are indicated with either a # (sharp) or a b (flat).
The sharps and flats located at the beginning of the staff show the key signature and the lines or space on which they fall indicate that any note which falls in that place is played with either that sharp or flat.
Extra sharps and flats can always be placed within the music as well and will be placed next to the note they alter.
Sharp means the pitch goes up, while b means the pitch goes down.
The sharp of one note is the same as the flat of the next note up.
Sharps and flats are indicated by the black keys on your piano.
This is discussed below. , The time signature, indicated by two numbers at the beginning of the staff, tell you how many beats a note gets.
The bottom number indicates what type of note gets one beat (which number corresponds to which note is indicated below) and the top number indicates how many of those are in one measure (or section of music). , When you look at the staff, you will see occasional vertical lines drawn through the horizontal lines of the staff.
The space between these lines is called the measure.
Think of the measure as a musical sentence, and the line as the period at the end of that sentence (though it does not mean you should pause before starting the next).
Measures help break up the music and work with the time signature to tell you how many beats to give to a note. -
Step 3: Recognize key signature.
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Step 4: Recognize the time signature.
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Step 5: Recognize measures.
Detailed Guide
When you look at sheet music, you will see five lines with four spaces between them.
These are collectively called the staff.
Both the lines and the spaces are used as locations for notes, and where on those notes fall determines the pitch of the note.
What pitch is assigned to the line or space is determined by the clef, discussed below.
Lines and spaces can also be created above and below the normal five by drawing short lines as needed to indicate the note.
Clefs are different shapes, located at the very beginning of a music staff, which tell you what pitches are on what line or space of the staff.
They are usually recognizable because they are large and cover all five lines.
Although several clefs exist, you will only need to know two for reading piano music:
A treble clef or G-clef is the clef or symbol you will usually see associated with music, so it should look familiar.
It looks vaguely similar to an ampersand (or “&” symbol).
The lines, from the bottom up to the top, indicate the following pitches:
E,G,B,D, and F.
The spaces, from the bottom up to the top, indicate the following pitches:
F, A, C, and E.
A bass clef or F-clef looks a little like a backward c with two dots behind the arc.
The lines, from the bottom up to the top, indicate the following pitches:
G,B,D, F, and A.
The spaces, from the bottom up to the top, indicate the following pitches:
A, C, E, and G. , The key signature tells you which notes get changed.
The whole or normal pitches are labeled with letters (ABCDEFG), but there are also half-steps between those notes which are indicated with either a # (sharp) or a b (flat).
The sharps and flats located at the beginning of the staff show the key signature and the lines or space on which they fall indicate that any note which falls in that place is played with either that sharp or flat.
Extra sharps and flats can always be placed within the music as well and will be placed next to the note they alter.
Sharp means the pitch goes up, while b means the pitch goes down.
The sharp of one note is the same as the flat of the next note up.
Sharps and flats are indicated by the black keys on your piano.
This is discussed below. , The time signature, indicated by two numbers at the beginning of the staff, tell you how many beats a note gets.
The bottom number indicates what type of note gets one beat (which number corresponds to which note is indicated below) and the top number indicates how many of those are in one measure (or section of music). , When you look at the staff, you will see occasional vertical lines drawn through the horizontal lines of the staff.
The space between these lines is called the measure.
Think of the measure as a musical sentence, and the line as the period at the end of that sentence (though it does not mean you should pause before starting the next).
Measures help break up the music and work with the time signature to tell you how many beats to give to a note.
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Michelle Lee
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