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Meter: The pattern of the rhythm, represented as a fraction after the clef on the staff. Measure: One complete cycle of the time signature of a piece. Here are a few terms that’ll help you start to make sense of the piano classes you’re trying to master and will help while trying to figure out how to read sheet music: In this case, you would find a repeat sign at the end of the first ending, and then you would play the second ending after repeating the first half of the song. Sometimes a piece will have multiple endings that should be played one after the other. Don’t confuse these with repeat signs which are bars accompanied by two dots and instruct a player to repeat the measure or set. If there are four beats to a measure, there will be a bar after four beats. The bars are the lines at the end of a measure. ThIs is how you can tell what a sharp, flat, or natural is. Sharps and flats usually end up being the black keys a half step up or down from the regular note. The flat symbol is a lowercase italicized “b” and tells you to go one pitch lower. The sharp symbol is the hash sign (#) and tells you to go one pitch higher. Sharps and flats are the symbols that tell a piano player to raise or lower the pitch of the presented note. You’ll then stay in this key until the next key signature appears. These symbols tell a player which key they’re playing in. The key signature is the set of sharps and flats written out on the staff. Piano basics: learning what clefs and staves are Key Signature Treble clefs denote higher notes, while bass clefs signify lower ones. C is an unusual “B” type character that many won’t ever see throughout their entire musical career. F is the backward “C” curve with two dots. G is the curving “G” type symbol that many are familiar with. There are three types of clef that you’ll find during your piano classes: F, C, and G. The symbol on the left-most side of the staff is called the clef, and it indicates the pitch of all the notes that will be placed on the lines to follow. These lines are called the staff or staves, and where the notes and symbols are placed on these lines will determine their pitch or function within the musical piece. The first thing you’ll notice when you look at piano sheet music are lines in the background of the more confusing notes and symbols. This post will focus on the geography of basic sheet music to give you a better understanding of what all those lines, squiggles, and dots are trying to say. If you’ve started piano lessons for beginners and feel like you’re reading Chinese, you’re not alone when figuring out how to reach sheet music.
Learning to play the piano can be fun, exhilarating, and pretty overwhelming from the start.