Sheet music: reading musical notation

Understanding sheet music can be a game-changer for beginners learning to play their instrument. It’s like a universal language that musicians and composers use to communicate their musical creations to each other. Although sheet music may seem daunting when first starting to learn it, getting familiar with this form of musical notation is worth the effort. Luckily, there are also easier and more accessible alternatives to traditional sheet music.

What Is Sheet Music?

Sheet music is a written representation of musical notation that illustrates a song’s pitch, rhythm, and harmony. For a player, sheet music serves as a roadmap for playing a piece of music. Just like normal writing in the Western tradition, sheet music is read from left to right.

Sheet music is normally written on paper, but nowadays it can also be written digitally, possibly with accompanying music and interactive elements, such as automatic scrolling and tempo adjustments. Understanding sheet music doesn’t just help you play and learn music written by other people; it also allows you to express your musical ideas and compositions to others.

Different Elements of Sheet Music

As with learning most complex things, it’s best to take sheet music and notation one piece at a time instead of all at once. Next, let’s look at some of the elements of sheet music you need to know.

Staff

The staff is the foundation of sheet music. It consists of five horizontal lines on which the notes sit. The position of a note on the staff indicates its pitch. A note can sit either directly on top of one of the lines on the staff or between them, depending on its pitch.

Bar Lines and Measures

Thin vertical lines, or bar lines, divide the staff into measures, also known as bars. Each measure contains a specific number of beats, as dictated by the time signature. Two bar lines are used to mark the end of a section in a song, such as the song’s verse or chorus. A thin vertical line followed by another thicker line marks the end of a musical piece.

Clef

At the beginning of each staff, you’ll find a symbol called a clef. The two most common clefs are the treble clef (for high-pitched instruments like the violin or flute) and the bass clef (for low-pitched instruments like the cello or tuba). However, the possible clefs you’ll find at the beginning of a staff aren’t limited to just these two types.

A so-called grand staff combines both the treble and bass staff and is most often used with piano sheet music. The bass clef indicates what the left hand plays, while the treble clef shows you what to play with your right hand.

Notes

Notes are the building blocks for chords, melodies, and ultimately, the entire song. They represent the pitch and duration of an individual sound, i.e., how high or low the sound should be and how long it should play. The position of a note on the staff indicates its pitch, whereas the type of note tells you its duration. For instance, a circle-like note represents a full note that is longer than a half note, consisting of a circle and a horizontal line. You can also have quarter notes, eight notes, and so forth.

Rests

As its name suggests, a rest is a pause in the music when no note should be played. Similarly to different types of notes, the types of rests indicate varying durations that the rest should last.

Time Signature

The time signature is a pair of numbers located after the key signature. The top number tells you how many beats are in each measure, and the bottom number tells you what kind of note gets one beat. The most commonly used time signature in Western music is 4/4. In other words, a 4/4 time signature tells you that there are four quarter notes in ​​each measure.

These elements of sheet music are only the beginning of understanding musical notation, but knowing them helps you get started on your musical journey. With Yousician, you can switch between different notation styles, ranging from a simplified, color-coded notation to sheet music, as well as tablature for the guitar, bass, and ukulele.

Alternatives to Sheet Music

If you’re interested and ready to put in the work to learn reading and playing with sheet music, it’s definitely worth the effort. However, there are other ways to learn music that can be more accessible and easier. Other forms of musical notation can also be more appropriate for certain instruments where knowing sheet music isn’t a requirement.

• Tablature: Also known as tabs, tablature is widely used for playing guitar, bass, and other fretted instruments. Reading guitar tablature, for instance, is simple and intuitive as the notation uses numbers to indicate where you should position your fingers to play a certain note or chord. Tabs for guitar, bass, and ukulele are easily available, and learning them doesn’t require much effort.
• Chord Charts: Chord charts, or chord diagrams, are another useful tool for guitarists and piano players. They illustrate how to play individual chords in an easy-to-read format and are valuable for learning new chords to add to your arsenal. Check out our library of different guitar chords.
• Software and Apps: Thanks to technology, there are numerous digital tools and apps that can help you learn music with various interactive elements. They’re an effective way to learn music, and they also make learning more motivating and fun. With the right app, you can get feedback on your playing or slow down the tempo of a song if you find a particular part difficult. You can learn to play using tablature with Yousician’s interactive gameplay that combines tabs with advanced sound recognition or use sheet music to play the piano.

Learn Music and More with Yousician

To get started learning how to read sheet music and play your favorite songs, check out Yousician. Begin your music journey by downloading Yousician for your computer, Apple, and Android devices. Make sure to learn more about the language of music from our full Musician’s Glossary.