. How to Read Piano Sheet Music
The Basics of How to Read
Piano Sheet Music
When you are learning to play piano you must learn how to read piano sheet music. Many people learn to read music in elementary school, however, if you are not in the band or choir, you can easily dismiss all that you learned. It can help to get familiar with at least the basics of sheet music before you get into your piano lessons.
The Staff
When you look at a piece of music there are different parts or elements that make up that sheet music. The first of those elements is the staff. This is the five line, fours space area where the actual notes sit. It is basically what the music is written on. It is the lines and spaces of the staff that tell you what note to play. At the beginning of the staff you will see a clef sign, either a treble or bass. There is a key signature and then a time signature. Each of these things help you to know how to play the music.
Clefs
The treble and bass clefs tell you the octave you are playing in. Generally in piano the treble clef is the right hand and the bass clef is the left hand. The clef sign will also tell you what notes each line and space of the staff represent.
In the treble clef staff the lines, from bottom to top, represent the notes E-G-B-D-F and the spaces are F-A-C-E. In the bass clef staff the lines, from bottom to top, represent the notes G-B-D-F-A and the spaces are A-C-E-G.
Key Signature
The key signature tells what notes, if any, are flat or sharp. The marking for flat is an odd “b” and the marking for sharp is “#”. In the key signature the marking will be on the line or space of the note that is to be played flat or sharp.
Time Signature
The time signature tells you the number of notes in each measure. Measures are marked by a straight vertical line and they are used to break up the music. It looks like a fraction.
Notes
The last part of the sheet music are the actual notes. There are many different types of notes and each note has a specific length of time in which it is played. Here are some examples of notes you will see:
Whole note: Looks like an “o” Played for 4 beats.
Half note: Looks like a backwards “b”. Played for 2 beats.
Quarter note: Looks like the half notes but is filled in to make the “o” solid black. Played for one beat.
Where the notes are placed on the staff tell you what note to play. For example a whole note on the first line up from the bottom would be a G played for 4 beats. See the Piano Lessons For Beginners page for more info.
There are many more complexities that go into sheet music, but these basics should get you started with learning how to read sheet music proficiently. Once you know these basics you can then begin to learn the more complex aspects of reading sheet music.
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