Music Notation

Staff

  • 5 lines and 4 spaces
  • Notes sit on the line or in the space, indicating the pitch of the tone.

Treble Clef Names

The treble clef is also called the G clef because the clef symbol curls around the line that represents the G above middle C.

The names of the treble clef lines can be remembered by the saying "Every Good Boy Does Fine." The spaces spell "F A C E."

Clefs

A clef symbol is placed at the beginning of each staff to fix the location of a specific pitch.

Rhythm Notation

Note Symbols

This table shows the music symbols and names of the most commonly used notes.

Note Value Tree

Dotted Notes

Each of these notes is half as long as the note above it.

Rest Symbols

A dot following a note or rest increases its duration by half the original value.

Time Signature

This table shows the music symbols and names of the most commonly used rests. Rests are used to indicate silence.

Glossary - Music Notation

Bass clef Symbol on the staff indicating relatively low pitch ranges, such as those played by a pianist's left hand.

Beam Horizontal line connecting the flags of several eighth notes or sixteenth notes in succession, to facilitate reading these notes.

Clef Symbol placed at the beginning of the staff to show the exact pitch of notes placed on each line and space.

Dotted note Note with a dot to the right of it. This dot increases the note's undotted duration by half.

Dotted rhythm Long-short rhythmic pattern in which a dotted note is followed by a note that is much shorter.

Grand staff Combination of the treble and bass staves, used in keyboard music to encompass the wide range of pitches produced by both hands.

Interval "Distance" in pitch between any two tones.

Ledger lines Short, horizontal lines above or below the staff, used to indicate a pitch that falls above or below the range indicated by the staff.

Meter Organization of beats into regular groups.

Meter signature See time signature.

Time signature (meter signature) Two numbers, one above the other, appearing at the beginning of a staff or the start of a piece, indicating the meter of the piece.

Middle C Note C nearest to the center of the piano keyboard, notated as the pitch on the ledger line below the treble clef and above the bass clef.

Natural sign Symbol used in notation of pitch to cancel a previous sharp or flat sign.

Notation System of writing down music so that specific pitches and rhythms can be communicated.

Note In notation, a black or white oval to which a stem and flags can be added.

Pitch Relative highness or lowness of a sound.

Quadruple meter Pattern of 4 beats to the measure.

Rest In notation of rhythm, a symbol to indicate the duration of silence in the music.

Score Notation showing all the parts of a musical ensemble, with a separate staff for each part, and with simultaneously sounded notes aligned vertically; used by the conductor.

Sharp sign Symbol which notates a pitch one half step higher than the pitch that would otherwise be indicated — for example, the next higher black key on the piano.

Staff In notation, a set of five horizontal lines between or on which notes are positioned.

Stem Vertical line on a note indicating how long that note is to be held relative to the notes around it.

Tie In notation of rhythm, an arc between two notes of the same pitch indicating that the second note should not be played but should be added to the duration of the first.

Treble clef Notation on a staff to indicate relatively high pitch ranges, such as those played by a pianist's right hand.

Triplet In notation of rhythm, three notes of equal duration grouped within a curved line with the numeral 3, lasting only as long as two notes of the same length would normally last.