Reading Music Sheet Notation - Process Analysis - Essay Example

Music is defined as “the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity” (Webster, p.781). The tones or notes in music are represented on paper by using a special notation. Although to a novice music notations may look complicated, learning to read music is not as difficult as it appears to be. In fact, its one of the most rewarding experiences. Singing and playing your favorite music becomes easier and you can also share your musical ideas with others. The following seven steps will help you read music sheets. The first step is learning the names of notes. For this, you should get hold of a music sheet, preferably a beginner’s sheet. Musical sounds are called notes and these notes are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet, namely; A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Next you will learn about staves and clefs. Each group of five parallel straight lines on the music sheet is called a stave. A stave has five lines and four spaces in between. The notes are written on the music sheet either on the line or in the space between the lines of a stave. The value of the note depends on the clef which is placed at the beginning of the stave. Treble clef looks like a huge 9 with a colon next to it and the Bass clef resembles an ampersand. The third step is to identify the notes based on the clefs associated with it. On a treble stave we read the notes on the five lines starting from the bottom line as E, G, B, D, F. It is easy to remember it if you think up sentences like “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”( Meixner).The notes on the four spaces between starting from the bottom are F, A, C, E. The notes on the lines of the bass stave starting bottom are G, B, D, F, and A. They can be memorized using the sentence “Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always” (Meixner). The notes on the spaces in between are A, C, E, and G. The sentence “All Cows Eat Grass” is a good way to remember this arrangement (Meixner). The treble and the bass staves are placed one below the other with a space between them. On a piano or keyboard the notes on the bass stave are played with the left hand while the notes on the treble are played with the right hand. The fourth step is to understand note length. The number of beats a note lasts is identified by its shape and form. A note which lasts for four beats is called a semibreve and is depicted as a round whole note. Minim is a round open note with a stem. It lasts for two beats. A crochet is a black note with a stem and it lasts for one beat. A quaver is a black note with a stem and a hook and it lasts for half a beat. Semiquaver is a black note with two hooks and lasts for one fourth of a beat. Demisemiquaver is a black note with two hooks and lasts for one eighth of a beat. When two or more quaver follows one another, instead of the hook a beam is drawn joining the notes. Similarly, when two or more semiquavers follow one another two beams are drawn instead of the two hooks. In the case of demisemiquavers three beams are drawn. When a dot is placed above or below the note, it means that there should a small rest immediately after the note. Now that you have mastered the timings of notes, you are more than half way to reaching your goal. Understanding time signatures is the next step. Every piece of music is divided into equal portions of time called measures or bars. These measures are indicated by bars on the staves. Double bars are usually given at the end of the piece to indicate its conclusion. The two numbers placed one on top of the other on the treble and the bass staves at the beginning of the music piece are called time signatures. The top number shows the number of beats in a measure. The bottom number indicates the type of note that makes up each beat. 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, 3/8 and 6/8 are some of the common time signatures used in music. The sixth step involves becoming familiar with key signatures. The symbol # before a note is a Sharp and raises that note by half a note. In other words, if there is a # symbol before note C then the black key on the piano after C is played. The b symbol denotes a flat and lowers the note by half a note. For example if there is a b key before note C then the black key on the piano before C is played. The natural symbol restores the note to its original. When the sharp or the flat symbol is placed on the stave immediately after the clef on any line or space, it is a key signature. The note corresponding to that line or space is changed to its sharp or flat note through out the music piece unless otherwise indicated specifically by a natural symbol. Take special care to remember the key signature otherwise you may sing or play the natural note instead of the sharp or flat. Practice it carefully and you should master it. The last step is learning the other symbols associated with music. A slur on notes means play the notes smoothly. A slash / means repeat the note once. Two dots on either side of the slash indicate that the previous bar is to be repeated. Repeat the section if you see two dots on the stave before the last bar. An inverted crescent with a dot under it means that the note must be held. Symbols like ^ > above a note means that the note has to be played or sung strongly. The details of tempo of a song are written in English or Italian at the beginning. This indicates how fast or slow the song is to be played. Many novices have learnt to read music by following these basic seven steps. Practice makes perfect. Patience and hard work will give fantastic results and you will be able to sing or play some great music within a short time. You could even compose your own music! Works cited Meixner, Kevin. “The Basics of Reading Music”. Notation Machine – Tools for the Musician. 12 Nov.2008 Mish, Fredrick C. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. Massachusetts: Merriam Webster Inc. 1991. 781 Read More