Music Notation Symbols

Notes

A note’s position on the staff tells you its pitch, and its shape tells you how long it lasts. The beats below are for 4/4 time, the most common time signature. The note values page explains each one in detail.

Symbol	Name	What it means
	Whole note	4 beats in 4/4. An open note head with no stem.
	Half note	2 beats. An open note head with a stem.
	Quarter note	1 beat. A filled note head with a stem.
	Eighth note	Half a beat. A quarter note with one flag.
	Sixteenth note	A quarter of a beat. Two flags.
	Dotted note	A dot adds half the note’s value: a dotted quarter lasts 1½ beats.

Rests

A rest is a measured silence. Each note value has a matching rest that lasts just as long.

Symbol	Name	What it means
	Whole rest	A whole measure of silence. Hangs below the fourth line.
	Half rest	2 beats of silence. Sits on top of the middle line.
	Quarter rest	1 beat of silence.
	Eighth rest	Half a beat of silence.

The whole rest and the half rest are easy to mix up. One way to remember it: the whole rest is heavier, so it hangs down from its line, while the half rest is lighter and sits on top of its line like a hat.

The staff, clefs and bar lines

Music is written on a staff of five lines and four spaces. The music staff page covers how it works. These symbols organize it:

Symbol	Name	What it means
	Treble clef (G clef)	Its spiral curls around the G line. Used for higher notes: the right hand on piano, violin, flute and most singing.
	Bass clef (F clef)	Its two dots sit either side of the F line. Used for lower notes: the left hand on piano, cello, bass and trombone.
	Bar line	Divides the music into measures (also called bars).
	Double bar line	Marks the end of a section.
	Final bar line	Marks the end of the piece.

Notes too high or low for the staff get short extra lines of their own, called ledger lines. Middle C sits on one, just below the treble staff:

To learn every note on the treble staff, start with treble clef notes.

Time signatures

The two numbers at the start of a piece are its time signature. The top number says how many beats are in each measure, and the bottom number says which note gets one beat.

Two time signatures are often written as symbols instead of numbers:

Symbol	Name	What it means
	Common time	Another way of writing 4/4: four quarter-note beats per measure.
	Cut time	Another way of writing 2/2: two half-note beats per measure.

For 3/4, 6/8 and the rest, see time signatures.

Sharps, flats and naturals

Accidentals change a note’s pitch by a half step, the smallest step in Western music: from one piano key to the very next one, black or white. They’re written just before the note they change.

Symbol	Name	What it means
	Sharp	Raises the note by a half step. F♯ is the black key just above F.
	Flat	Lowers the note by a half step. B♭ is the black key just below B.
	Natural	Cancels an earlier sharp or flat, so the note goes back to its plain letter.

An accidental lasts until the end of its measure. Any later note on the same line or space in that measure keeps it, and the next bar line cancels it.

When a piece uses the same sharps or flats all the way through, they’re written once at the start of every line instead, just after the clef. This is the key signature. One sharp on the top line, for example, means every F in the piece is played as F♯ unless a natural says otherwise.

Ties and slurs

Both are curved lines, but they mean different things. A tie joins two notes of the same pitch. A slur joins different notes.

Symbol	Name	What it means
	Tie	Joins two notes of the same pitch. Play one note, held for both lengths added together.
	Slur	A curve over or under different notes. Play them smoothly, without a break.

Ties are how music writes a note that lasts longer than one measure, or a length no single note shape can show. A quarter note tied to a half note, for example, lasts three beats.

Articulation

Articulation marks tell you how to play a note: short, strong or held.

Symbol	Name	What it means
	Staccato	A dot above or below the note head. Play it short and detached.
	Accent	Play the note with extra emphasis, louder at its start.
	Fermata	Hold the note longer than its value, for as long as feels right, then carry on.

Dynamics

Dynamics tell you how loudly to play. They’re written below the staff, using letters that stand for Italian words.

Symbol	Name	What it means
	Piano (p)	Quiet.
	Mezzo-forte (mf)	Moderately loud.
	Forte (f)	Loud.
	Crescendo	Get gradually louder. Sometimes written cresc.
	Decrescendo (diminuendo)	Get gradually quieter. Sometimes written dim. or decresc.

From quietest to loudest, the common levels are:

Marking	Italian name	Meaning
pp	pianissimo	Very quiet
p	piano	Quiet
mp	mezzo-piano	Moderately quiet
mf	mezzo-forte	Moderately loud
f	forte	Loud
ff	fortissimo	Very loud

The piano got its name this way: early pianos were called pianoforte, “quiet-loud”, because unlike the harpsichord they could play both.

Repeats

Symbol	Name	What it means
	Repeat sign	Go back and play the section again, from the matching repeat sign facing the other way, or from the beginning if there isn’t one.

Repeat signs save writing the same music out twice. When a repeated section ends differently the second time, numbered brackets above the staff, called first and second endings, show which measures to play each time through.

Which symbols to learn first

You don’t need all of these to start reading music. Most beginner music uses only:

1. The treble clef and the notes on the staff.
2. Whole, half and quarter notes, and their rests.
3. Bar lines and a time signature, usually 4/4.

That’s exactly what Trebly’s lessons teach, in that order. Learn those first, with the how to read music guide or by practicing in Training, and add the other symbols as you meet them in real music.