Look at any piece of music and you’ll most likely see a fraction at the beginning of the piece.  This is called the time signature.  Some of the more common time signatures are 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4.  These three time signatures have 4 as the bottom number, which means that the quarter note gets one beat.  2/4 has 2 beats per measure, 3/4 has 3 beats per measure, and 4/4 has 4 beats per measure.

Some time signatures have the number 8 on the bottom.  In these meters, the eighth note gets one beat.  In 6/8 time, there are 6 eighth notes per measure.  If the tempo (or speed) of the tune is slow, we count 6 beats per measure.

If the tempo is fast, we can reduce our counting to 2.  Marches that are notated in 6/8 are counted in 2.  This makes it a lot easier for us musicians to count, and it also makes life a lot easier on the conductor.  We can think of this as 3 eighth notes (or one dotted quarter note) per beat.

The next lesson will be the final one on time signatures for begginers who want to learn to read music. From there we’ll move on to other music theory topics, music education and learning to read music.

For students in music classes and who have any musical ambitions after highschool, it’s critical to learn how to read music notes before graduation. I  myself was a music major in college but could not read music when I went off to college. It was a horrible mistake. In my music theory, musicianship and music education classes I was fighting my entire first year to make up for lost time.

Parents, if you want your kids to accel in college and they’re even considering a music major or even taking music classes, help them learn how to read music notes and basic music theory. There are a number of good programs, if you want something offline the Composer is pretty good. If you want something online that you can help them get started on immediately and that guarantees success, check out Speedy Music Reading

“For kids younger than 5 or 6, there is still plenty that can be done to encourage musicality. Play music for them often, and encourage them to clap along with the beat or try to sing the melody. Buy them a little keyboard on which to simply fool around. By the time they are old enough for more formalized lessons, the concepts of notes and rhythms, often daunting to children at first, will already be engrained.”

I found their perspective interesting; essentially saying that kids should learn music theory and learn how to read music notes when they start school, but that you can do alot to increase and encourage musical creativity in your child by beginning music education simply with music, listening, and singing.

The whole article can be found at Music at What Age Article

Adagio is an Italian word meaning slow. It is an indication of the music’s tempo and is frequrently used to describe a slow movement, even when the indication of speed at the start of the movement may be different. (much like an accelerando in which the rest of the piece may be a different tempo than the part marked with this phrase)

Aria is an italian phrase appearing sometimes with the earlier English spelling ayre, means a tune or melody, for voice or instrument. It’s typically a vocally challenging song meant to showcase the talent and vocal range of the musician.

Next post, more music terminology to help you learn to read music!

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That’s the word from several studies. Reading music actually makes you better at science and math, along with critical and analytic thinking. Who would have guess that reading musical notes would help you excel in every other way also! Check it out:

In a study of the scientific ability of students at the age of 14, “The top three countries were Hungary, the Netherlands, and Japan. All three include music throughout the curriculum from kindergarten through high school. In the 1960s, the Kodaly system of music education was instituted in the schools of Hungary, as a result of the outstanding academic achievement of children in the music programme.” – Music and the Mind by Dee Dickinson.

So there you have it. If you want to make yourself or your kids smarter, just learn how to read music notes.

We’ll pick back up next post with How to Read the Treble Clef lesson 2!

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Accelerando (Italian: becoming faster) is a word used to show that the music should be played at an increasing pace. It does not normally show that the entire piece should be sped up, but that a particular part of the score should be accelerated.

Accompaniment is an additional part for a performer of any kind that is less important than another, which it serves to support and enhance. The piano is often used to provide an accompaniment to a solo singer. In instrumental works the roles may be reversed. (For instance, a violin may accompany a piano solo or vice versa)

These are basics music reading terms, and there are many terms in music theory and music education that we’ll begin to cover slowly. Stay tuned to learn all about how to read music notes, music terminology, and music reading tips.

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