Reading Music
A Brief History of Music Notation
Like language, music seems to be built into the human brain. And so it is not surprising that ancient people all around the world created music. Some civilizations developed systems of music notation, which enabled them to make written records of their musical compositions.
The modern system of music notation was originally used in European classical music and is now used by musicians of many different genres throughout the world. Briefly, the system uses a so-called 'staff' (or 'stave'), which is a set of five horizontal lines with four spaces separating the lines. Pitch is indicated by the placement of notes on the staff, and duration is indicated by the note symbols. Notation is read from left to right.
The creator of this system was Guido d'Arezzo, an Italian Benedictine monk who lived from 995–1050. His achievement paved the way for the modern method of writing music, facilitated the process of composing, and made possible the creation of a vast body of music that has been preserved for centuries.
Guido d'Arezzo is also credited with naming the musical notes, using names that correspond to the names of the verses of the ancient hymn Ut Queant Laxis. The names now commonly used (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si) are almost the same as those that he used.
If you wish to learn more, read the Wikipedia page called "Musical notation", and then investigate some of the references on the bottom of that page.
Tutorials
Taking The Mystery Out of Reading Notes, a Story
Part 1 Introduction
Part 2 Guido's First Written Music, Play Along
Part 3 Guido's Staff Evolves into the Modern G-Clef
Sight-reading lessons (2014) These assume no prior knowledge of reading music