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.

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.

A time signature placed at the beginning of a piece indicates its meter.. Unless we get other information, this meter is in effect for the duration of the piece. The time signature actually tells us three things: the meter, the unit of measure for each pulse, and whether we are in simple time or compound time. A time signature has an upper and lower number. In simple time signatures, the upper number relates directly to the meter: it is either a two, three, or four. The lower number tells us what note value receives the pulse or beat. The first time signature below, two-four, tells us that each measure will have two beats in a strong-weak pattern, and the quarter-note gets the beat. Three-two tells us that the piece is in a triple meter, strong-weak-weak pattern where the half-note gets the beat. And finally four-eight has four beats per measure with an eighth-note pulse.

Learn How to Read Music Notes

In Western music notation, the staff (plural is staves) is a set of five lines and four spaces, each of which represents a different pitch. Appropriate music symbols, depending upon the intended effect, are placed on the staff according to their corresponding pitch or function. Musical notes are placed by pitch, percussion notes are placed by instrument, and rests and other symbols are placed by convention.

If the beat is divided into two the meter is simple, if divided into three it is compound. If each measure is divided into two it is duple and if into three it is triple. Some people also label quadruple, while some consider it as two duples. Any other division is considered additively, as a measure of five beats may be broken into duple+triple (12123) or triple+duple (12312) depending on accent. However, in some music, especially at faster tempos, it may be treated as one unit of five.

A main feature of western music is its meter, a repeating pattern of pulses with a regular accent pattern.

Music has three different meters: duple time, triple time, and quadruple time.  The names of these meters reflect the number of pulses or beats in each measure of music:  duple time tells us that the meter has two pulses per measure, triple time has three, and quadruple time has four pulses per measure.

 For each of these meters there is also a basic accent pattern.  Duple time has a strong-weak pattern, a triple meter usually has a strong-weak-weak pattern, and quadruple meter has a strong-weak-medium weak pattern for each measure.  There are variations to these accent patterns for specific genres or styles, or occasionally  composers will play with our expectations of these meters, but for our purposes here, we shall stick with these basic patterns.

Learn to Read Music Fast and Easy