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How to read sheet music

Read sheet music like a graph: up and down is pitch, left to right is time. A note’s line or space on the five-line staff is the note to play, and its shape is how long to hold it. The clef at the start names the lines, and the time signature says how many beats fill each bar. Read the tune below, then play it and watch each note light up as it sounds.

Tune

Ode to Joy

Beethoven, 1824 · 4/4 · 100 beats a minute

Tap any note to hear it and see what it is.

How to read music in seven steps

1. Find the clef

The curl at the start of each staff. The treble clef is for higher notes: a piano’s right hand, singing, guitar, violin and flute. The bass clef is for lower ones: the left hand, bass guitar and cello.

2. Name the lines and spaces

On the treble staff the lines are E G B D F from the bottom (Every Good Boy Does Fine) and the spaces spell F A C E. On the bass staff the lines are G B D F A and the spaces A C E G.

3. Read how long each note is

A whole note lasts 4 beats, a half note 2, a quarter note 1, an eighth note ½ and a sixteenth note ¼. A filled-in head, a stem, and then flags or beams each make a note shorter.

4. Count the time signature

The two numbers after the clef. 4/4 means four beats in every bar, each one a quarter note. Bar lines cut the music into those bars, and you count 1 2 3 4 through each one.

5. Check the key signature

Sharps or flats between the clef and the time signature are played all the way through. One sharp on the top line means every F is played as F♯.

6. Watch for accidentals

A sharp, flat or natural written just before a note changes it, and every same note after it, until the bar line.

7. Play it slowly, counting

Clap the rhythm while counting out loud, then play it slowly enough to get every note right. Speed up only once it is easy.

The staff, the clefs and the notes’ names

Music is written on a staff of five lines and the four spaces between them. The higher a note sits, the higher it sounds, and each line and space is the next letter of the musical alphabet, A to G. Notes above or below the staff get short ledger lines of their own.

Treble clef

Lines E G B D F: Every Good Boy Does Fine.

Spaces F A C E: they spell FACE.

Bass clef

Lines G B D F A: Good Boys Do Fine Always.

Spaces A C E G: All Cows Eat Grass.

Learn one clef at a time, with a quiz on each: treble clef notes, bass clef notes and the grand staff.

Note values: how long each note lasts

A note’s shape says how many beats to hold it. Each value is half as long as the one before, so two half notes last as long as a whole note, and two quarter notes as long as a half. Hear each one fill a bar of 4/4, with a tick on every beat.

Whole note: 4 beats

An open head with no stem. It lasts the whole bar of 4/4: play it on 1 and hold it through 2, 3 and 4.

Half note: 2 beats

An open head with a stem. Two fill a bar of 4/4, one on 1 and one on 3.

Quarter note: 1 beat

A filled head with a stem: one beat. Four fill a bar of 4/4, one on every count.

Eighth note: ½ a beat

A quarter note with a flag, or joined to its neighbour by a beam. Two in every beat: count “1 and 2 and”.

Sixteenth note: ¼ a beat

Two flags, or two beams. Four in every beat: count “1 e and a, 2 e and a”.

Note values, their names and their beats in 4/4
Name	UK name	Beats in 4/4
whole note	semibreve	4 beats
half note	minim	2 beats
quarter note	crotchet	1 beat
eighth note	quaver	½ a beat
sixteenth note	semiquaver	¼ a beat

Rests: how long each silence lasts

A rest is a silence, and every note value has one as long as itself. Keep counting through it: the beat goes on, and the next note comes in on time. The whole rest hangs down like a hole, the half rest sits up like a hat.

Rests, what they look like and their beats in 4/4
Name	Looks like	Beats
whole rest	A block hanging from the fourth line	4 beats
half rest	A block sitting on the middle line	2 beats
quarter rest	A zigzag down the middle of the staff	1 beat
eighth rest	A slash with one flag	½ a beat
sixteenth rest	A slash with two flags	¼ a beat

Two bars with rests

The counts in brackets are the silent ones: count them anyway.

Dotted notes and ties

A dot after a note adds half its length again: a dotted half note is 2 + 1 = 3 beats, and a dotted quarter note 1 + ½ = 1½. A tie is a curve joining two notes of the same pitch: play the first and hold it through the second, often across a bar line.

Dotted half and dotted quarter

3 beats, then 1; then 1½, ½ and 2.

A tie across the bar line

The G is played once and held for 2 + 1 = 3 beats.

Time signatures and bars

The time signature’s top number is how many beats fill each bar, and the bottom one which note is one beat: 4 a quarter note, 8 an eighth note. 4/4 is the most common, and is all pop, rock and hip-hop; 3/4 is a waltz’s ONE two three; 6/8 has six eighth notes, felt as two beats of three.

4/4: four beats a bar

3/4: three beats a bar

6/8: six eighth notes, two beats of three

Every meter, with a beat to hear in each, is on the page about time signatures.

Key signatures, sharps, flats and naturals

A sharp (♯) raises a note a half step, the next key up on a piano, and a flat (♭) lowers it a half step. The key signature after the clef sets them for the whole piece. A sharp, flat or natural (♮) written before a single note is an accidental: it lasts until the bar line, and a natural cancels it.

G major’s one sharp

The sharp on the top line makes every F an F♯, here the second last note.

Accidentals in a bar

The sharp lasts to the bar line, so the third F is sharp too, until the natural.

All 15, with how to tell the key at a glance, are on the key signatures chart.

How to read piano sheet music

Piano music is written on the grand staff: the treble staff for the right hand and the bass staff for the left, joined by a brace, with middle C on a ledger line between them. Read it in columns: notes lined up one above the other are played together, and notes stacked on one stem are a chord. Learn each hand alone first, then both slowly.

Ode to Joy with both hands

The right hand plays the tune, the left hand a C major chord, then G major.

Find each note on the keyboard with the labelled piano keys.

Tempo and dynamics

Above the first bar, a word or a number says how fast: a quarter note = 100 means 100 beats a minute, and the Italian words give a range. Under the staff, letters say how loud, and a hairpin opening out means get louder.

Tempo words and their beats a minute
Tempo	Means	BPM
Largo	Very slow, broad	40–60
Adagio	Slow	66–76
Andante	At a walking pace	76–108
Moderato	Moderately	108–120
Allegro	Fast and bright	120–156
Presto	Very fast	168–200

Dynamics and what they mean
Mark	Word	Means
	pianissimo	Very soft
	piano	Soft
	mezzo-piano	Fairly soft
	mezzo-forte	Fairly loud
	forte	Loud
	fortissimo	Very loud
	crescendo	Getting louder
	diminuendo	Getting softer

Practise at any tempo with the free metronome.

Note values quiz

Ten notes and rests, one at a time. Say how many beats each lasts in 4/4, and hear it held against the beat.

Questions about reading sheet music

How do you read sheet music for beginners?

Start with the clef, which names the lines: on the treble staff they are E G B D F from the bottom, and the spaces spell F A C E. Each note’s line or space is the note to play, and its shape is how long to hold it: a whole note 4 beats, a half note 2, a quarter note 1. The time signature’s top number is the beats in each bar. Then count the beats out loud and play slowly.

What are the notes on the lines and spaces?

On the treble staff the lines from the bottom are E, G, B, D and F (“Every Good Boy Does Fine”) and the spaces F, A, C and E. On the bass staff the lines are G, B, D, F and A (“Good Boys Do Fine Always”) and the spaces A, C, E and G (“All Cows Eat Grass”). Notes above or below the staff sit on short ledger lines: middle C is on the one just below the treble staff.

What do the numbers at the start of sheet music mean?

They are the time signature. The top number is how many beats are in each bar, and the bottom one is the note that is one beat: 4 for a quarter note, 8 for an eighth note, 2 for a half note. 4/4 is four quarter-note beats a bar, 3/4 three, and 6/8 six eighth notes, felt as two beats of three.

How do you read piano sheet music with both hands?

Piano music is written on the grand staff: the treble staff for the right hand on top and the bass staff for the left hand below, joined by a brace, with middle C between them. Notes lined up one above the other are played at the same time, and notes stacked on one stem are a chord. Learn each hand’s part alone first, then put them together slowly.

What is the difference between a note and a rest?

A note is a sound and a rest is a silence of the same length. A whole rest hangs from the fourth line and lasts 4 beats, a half rest sits on the middle line and lasts 2, and the quarter, eighth and sixteenth rests last 1, ½ and ¼ of a beat. Keep counting through a rest so the next note comes in on time.

How long does it take to learn to read sheet music?

It varies from person to person. Ten to fifteen minutes a day is usually enough to read a simple tune like the ones on this page note by note within a few weeks. Reading new music at full speed, at sight, takes much longer, and comes from reading a little new music every day.

Do you need to read sheet music to make music?

No. Many songwriters and producers play by ear or build their songs in an editor, where each note is a block on a grid. Reading helps you learn music other people wrote and play with musicians who read. In Prodverse’s free editor you can start from a beat and add chords, a melody and drums part by part without reading a note.

Make your own tune

Open the free editor with a beat playing, then add a melody, chords and drums, part by part. No account needed to start.

Start a beat Treble clef notes

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