Music can be written down, just like words! When you read a book, you look at letters and words. When you read music, you look at notes and symbols. These tell a musician what sounds to play and how long to play them. Learning to read music is like learning a new language.
Music is written on five lines called the staff. Notes sit on the lines or in the spaces between them. Notes that are higher on the staff sound higher, and notes that are lower on the staff sound lower. The curly symbol at the beginning of the staff is called a clef. It tells you which notes go where.
Some notes last a long time, and some are very quick. A whole note is an open circle, and you hold it for four beats. A half note has a line called a stem and you hold it for two beats. A quarter note is filled in and gets one beat. When you see a rest, that means silence — no sound at all!
At the start of a piece of music, you will see two numbers stacked up. This is called the time signature. The top number tells you how many beats are in each group. Most songs have four beats in a group. Lines called bar lines break the music into small sections called measures. This helps you keep your place while you play.
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