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.

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.

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

One of the most sophisticated musical forms is the sonata-allegro form.  Its three principle sections are usually called the Exposition, Development and Recapitulation.  In the hands of the masters, each part of this form, from the opening motif up to the complete composition itself, will have some kind of structural integrity expressed through the principles of repetition and contrast.  An impressive example of these principles is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.  The immediately recognizable opening motif becomes the impetus for one of the most performed symphonies in the repertoire.

Learn How to Read Music

Melodies and complementing phrases mark larger sections of a composition.  Composers build pieces from these sections by repeating them, varying them, or contrasting them with new material.  Some patterns of repetition and contrast are so frequent that we think of them as specific musical forms. Some of the simpler forms themselves can become building blocks for larger compositions.

 Binary form is probably the most basic compositional form.  It is in two sections, typically with repeats for each section.  We often use letters to identify its sections as an A section, and a B section.  Each section has repeat markings.  The A section is usually two phases of four measures each, not unlike the Mozart above.  The B section may be two or more phrases and the opening material may appear here in some variation.

We’ll be back soon with the next installment of this free music lesson!

Learning to Read Music