If you want to learn how to read music, there are many lessons that must be learned, but an important early lesson has to do with reading scales and intervals..
Treble clef: The treble clef, also known as the G-clef (because it circles the line for the G note), is used in writing music for most musical voices (soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, and tenor), most woodwind instruments, stringed instruments (violin, guitar) and high brass instruments such as the trumpet. It also typically corresponds to the notes played with the right hand on the piano. The notes played on the lines of the treble clef staff are, from bottom to top, E, G, B, D, F. The order of these notes can be remembered with the use of mnemonic phrases such as Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, Elvis’ G’oes Belly Dancing Friday, or Every Good Boy Does Fine. The spaces between the lines, from bottom to top, correspond to the notes F, A, C, E, a sequence which, obviously, spells “FACE.”
Bass clef: The bass clef, also known as the F-clef because it defines the line for the F note between two dots, is used for lower-pitched instruments such as the bassoon, the bass, and low brass instruments such as the trombone and tuba. The piano part played by the left hand is also usually written with a bass todau. The notes played on the lines of the bass clef staff are, from bottom to top, G, B, D, F, A. This order can be remembered with the aid of phrases such as Good Burritos Don’t Fall Apart or Good Boys Do Fine Always. The spaces between the lines, from bottom to top, correspond to the notes A, C, E, G. The mnemonic device All Cows Eat Grass may help you remember the order of these notes.
Today’s music lesson is on learning how to read music with triads and it also contains some great tips for people who want to learn how to sight read music.
A triad is a three-note chord that can be stacked in thirds. The pieces of the chords, from lowest to highest on a staff) are called the Root, the Third (whose interval is a major third or minor third above the root) and the Fifth (whose interval is a major or minor third above the third, and a diminished, perfect, or augmented fifth above the root).
Triads (or any other tertian chords) are built by stacking every other note. For example, A-C-E is a triad and it skips B and D. While the interval from each note to the one above it is a third, the quality of those thirds varies depending on the quality of the triad… More to come on this later.
For more video music lessons please visit Learn to Read Music and for the best program to learn to read music visit Speedy Music Reading.
We’re now (finally!) at the end of this music lesson to help you learn to read music meter. From the above, we can summarize that the difference between simple and compound time is how the beat or pulse is divided: either into two parts or three parts respectively. In addition, we can see that in simple time the beat value will always be a regular note value, while in compound time the beat value will always be a dotted note value.
So there you have it, we’ve covered simple and compound musical meter, reading music notes on the bass cleff and reading music notes on the treble clef. If you’re serious about learning to read music, spend a great deal of time on this site, you’ll find many free music lessons and basic music theory. Enjoy!
We’re back for lesson 3 on learning how to read musical meter. Reading meter, or time signatures is one of the first skills to learn if music reading is something you want to learn or get better at. In the last music lesson we covered simple simple signature, and in this one we’ll cover compoung. In compound time signatures, the upper number is actually a multiple of the meter: six, nine, or twelve for duple, triple, and quadruple time respectively. Six-eight, for example, is a duple time signature arranged into two groups of three eighth-notes. Each group adds up to a dotted quarter-note, which is the actual value for the beat or pulse of the meter. Six-eight really means two dotted quarter-notes. Nine-sixteen is a triple compound meter: three groups of three sixteenth-notes, or three dotted-eighth-notes per measure. Twelve-eight is four groups of three eighth-notes each, or four dotted quarter-notes:
Here’s a great lesson to help you learn to read music – it’s especially helpful for piano players and people who want to learn how to play piano. This video covers the names of the keys on the piano ranging from C to B as well as natural notes and accidentals. Also covered is what’s called “odd meter” meaning time signature in music (5/8 for example) that is not the traditional even number (such as 4/4).
There’s also a very helpful fingering chart to help piano players know where to place their hands when learning how to read music.