In this tutorial series we will learn the basic concepts of music notation and apply them to reading music for the piano. The ability to read music notation is an invaluable skill for any musician. Music notation is an ingenious system of graphic symbols that efficiently combine all the information needed to play a piece of music.

It contains the essentials:

1. What notes to play.
2. When to play those notes & how long they last.

It also contains other characteristics, for example:

3. What speed to play the piece – tempo.
4. How loudly or quietly to play those notes – dynamics.
5. What qualities those notes should have; such as staccato (sharp & disconnected) or legato (smooth & connected) – phrasing & timbre.
6. What scale is being used – key signature.
7. How to count the rhythm – time signature.

Music notation typically contains all the information necessary to know how to play a piece of music. The information is readable and playable on (or translates to) many musical instruments. It is therefore referred to as a universal language. The piano is no exception. Music notation is ideally suited to providing information for how to play a piece of music on the piano.

Understanding Music Notation Lesson 1 - Introduction

Christopher Schlegel

Tutorial 018 - Learning To Read Music (Page 1 of 17)

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