Your Basic Guide of Musical Terms and Symbols

When you begin learning about music, you want to jump right in and begin playing. Maybe you have a favorite song you love. Or maybe you want to be able to show your friends and family what you can do. And, while playing music is the overall goal, learning how to read music is a vital step in the process. Of course, that means learning all the musical terms and symbols involved.

If you have ever looked over a piece of sheet music, you will find that there are so many symbols, words, and the like written all over the page — and they are obviously there for a reason, right? Right. A piece of music is so much more than just the notes. Although those are really important, too.

So whether you are all new to music or it’s been a while, and you could use a refresher, let’s take a look at this basic guide to musical terms and symbols to help you kickstart your future in music.

Staff

The staff consists of five lines and four spaces that hold all the notes in your piece of music. Each line and space corresponds to a pitch on a musical scale. Which pitch that is will depend on which clef your music is written for.

A measure is a piece of the staff that has been separated with a bar line into metered pieces based on the time signature.

The Clef

This indicates the musical pitch of the notes on the staff. There are two different clefs, Bass Clef and Treble Clef. Certain instruments tend to use a specific clef. For instance, the bass clef is most commonly used by instruments such as the tuba, bassoon, trombone, and cello. And the pianist’s left hand. A treble clef is most used with the flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, violin, and the pianist’s right hand.

Time Signature

The time signature is written to the right of the clef and looks like two numbers on top of the other. This is what tells you the meter of the music. Each measure of music will contain the same number of beats (indicated by the top number in the time signature). The bottom number of the time signature tells you the note value that gets that beat. So if the time signature is, then that means there are 4 beats per measure and the quarter note gets the beat.

Common Time

A musical piece with a C in the time signature location is said to be in common time. And that means it is a time signature — and there are 4 beats per measure, and the quarter note gets the beat. If the C has a line through it, that’s cut time –

Key Signature

 A key signature lets you know how many sharps and flats there will be throughout the piece. The notes that are to be played, either sharp or flat, will be displayed at the beginning of the piece and, although they won’t be marked throughout the piece, you know to play them as such because that is what the key signature tells you.

Natural Symbol

A natural symbol in music looks like this: [♮]. Any time you see this, it means that the sharp or flat that was stated in the key signature is canceled – but only for that note.

Bar Lines

As discussed above, a bar line is just a line on the staff that separates each measure. But sometimes, you will come across a double bar line. These are two regular lines, side by side, that indicate you are going into the next section of music. It is common to find a key signature change or even a time signature change, too.

A double bar line with one bold line means that it is the end of the piece. And if you see this with two dots in front of it, you are looking at a repeat sign. This tells you to either repeat the music from the beginning or between two repeat signs.

Interval

The interval is the distance between two pitches. There are 5 classifications of intervals, including major, minor, augmented, diminished, and perfect.

Breath Mark

Not all music will have one, but a comma above the staff is known as a breath mark or, more formally, a luftpause. It tells the musician that this is where you should take a breath or offer a momentary pause. You never change the tempo but rather shorten the preceding note just slightly.

Cadence

A cadence is a chord progression. It consists of at least two chords and helps wind down a section, phrase, or entire piece of music.

Fortepiano

Knowing dynamics tells you how loud or soft to play music is – and is important if you want to get the full effect across to the listener. Forte means to play loudly. Piano means to play softly. Each section will tell you how it is to be played dynamically. And an Fp, fortepiano, means to first play loudly and then immediately play softly.

Ode

As you begin playing all types of music, you will likely come across an ode, such as Beethoven’s Ode to Joy which you have likely already learned how to play — or will soon. An ode is a composition that is written as a way to remember and celebrate a certain time, person, or event.

Riff

 A riff is a stand-out piece of a song that has a short rhythm or melody that is repeated throughout the piece. Riffs are usually only two to four bars long.

Melomaniac

This is someone who loves music – more than your average person. As a musician who is just learning all these musical terms and symbols, you are just getting started. But, one day, with any luck, you will call yourself a melomaniac.

Conclusion

There is so much that goes into playing music and learning musical terms – at times, it can feel like learning a whole new language. Over time, you will find that you are always learning something new with each new piece of sheet music – no matter how long you have played.