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Treble Each clef can be positioned higher or lower on the staff - there is a particular aspect of each clef that is designed to align to a certain note. * G Clef - the spiral on its lower portion circles G above middle C* C Clef aligns with - the arrow-like symbol in the center points to middle C* F Clef - the line or space between the two dots indicates F below middle C The G Clef commonly places G on the second line of the staff from the bottom, so that the notes E G B D F fall on the lines from lowest to highest and and F A C E in fall on the spaces from lowest to highest. There is additionally a Neutral Clef used for pitchless instruments such as percussion, with the lines/spaces between arbitrarily assigned to certain drums or sounds. The G and F clefs sometimes have an "8" directly below them, which indicates to play an octave higher than normal.
== Dynamics ==Often the last (or last few) measures before a repeat sign will have a bracket above it with "1." or "2.". This indicates which measure to play based upon which repetition is being played. For the initial playthrough, you play the "1." and on the repeat play the "2.". This allows sheet music to be more condensed.
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Classical musical notation features a unique set of symbols designed to convey virtually all relevant information about a musical work. Unlike guitar tablature, it applies equally to most instruments. Wikipedia's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_symbols List of Musical Symbols article] is really excellent on this information; however, I walk through the basics below.
== Staff ==
The <u>Staff</u> is a set of 5 parallel, horizontal lines that form the majority of "ink on the page". These correspond to pitch, with lower pitches towards the lowest line and higher pitches towards the highest. Notes are marked on top of a line, or between a pair of them(called spaces).
=== Ledger Lines ===
Sometimes notes have pitch lower or higher than the lowest or highest line of the staff. To accommodate this, the notation uses <u>Ledger Lines</u>, additional lines drawn above or below the staff. Unlike the staff, however, ledger lines are short line fragments that are only as long as necessary for one or several consecutive notes that do not fit on the staff. The number of lines drawn is however many are necessary to get from the lowest note on the staff to the note desired - in some cases it can be a lot.
=== Key and Accidentals ===
== Clef ==
The <u>Clef</u> is typically the first marking one notices on the staff. It is a one of many large, peculiar looking symbolsymbols, whose purpose is to indicate which notes align with the lines of the staff. The two most common clefs are the ''G, C, and F Clefs (commonly known as the Treble'' Clef , Soprano/Alto/Tenor, and ''Bass'' ClefClefs). The Treble G Clef is used more most often, aligning with the range of most classical instruments. Bass Clef is used for lower-pitched instruments. Piano commonly uses both Treble a G and Bass an F Clefon two bracketed staffs, with each roughly corresponding to the left and right hands.
== Time Signature ==
== Repeats and Codas ==
Some measures are marked with a thick vertical line followed by one of normal size then two vertically-aligned dots (like a colon - ":"). This is called a repeat sign and indicates that this measure or section will be repeated. When the same marks are found in the opposite order, that means to return to the measure with the initial repeat sign. If the measure/section are to be repeated more than once, a multiple is indicated near the final repeat sign (2x, 3x, 4x, etc.).
The symbols "D.C." and "D.S." indicate to jump back a large distance in the piece, which may span numerous repeated measures/section. "D.C." indicates to jump all the way back to the beginning of the piece, while "D.S." means to jump back to the measure marked by the Segno sign (looks like an S surrounded by dots with a line through it). They are followed by "al fine" or "al coda". "Al fine" means to play the repetition until the end of the piece, while "al coda" means to play until hitting the measure marked with the Coda sign (looks like crosshairs - a circle with a + sign through it). Once hitting the Coda, the piece jumps to the measure indicated by the next Coda (like a warp/portal). The Segno and Coda symbols only apply once hitting the "D.C." or "D.S.". On the initial playthrough, they are ignored (although you should take note of the Segno, so you know where to jump back to from a "D.S."). A symbol that looks like a division symbol (a slanted line with a dot to the upper left and lower right) indicates to repeat the previous beat or measure (which should be clear from the context). == Tempo Dynamics and Accents ==A ">" symbol above a note indicates to play it accented. A "^" above it indicates an even stronger accent.
== Other Markings ==
=== Trills ===
A "tr" marking above a note indicates a trill. Rapidly alternate between the given note and the next highest note in the key.
=== Grace Notes ===
A smaller than usual usual note with a slanted line through it slurred into a normal note indicates a grace note. This means to play the grace note with as little duration as possible, using legato to get to the normal-sized note.
=== Legato ===
Different notes above/below a curved line indicate to play them legato. === Bending Staccato ===A dot above a note means to cut its duration shorter than usual, getting a percussive feel. ===Quarter Tones = Chord Markings ==A backward flat symbol or half of a sharp symbol indicates to flat/sharp the note by a quarter step rather than a half-step, placing it between notes of the chromatic scale. === Arpeggios ===A wavy vertical line in front of a group of notes (chord) indicates to arpeggiate the chord, playing the notes in sequence from lowest to highest quickly such that each individual note can be heard, while still giving the whole chord the duration of notes.
=== Section Markings ===
=== Portamento ===
A wavy line between two notes indicates portamento (or pitch slide) - to move from the first to second note by steadily ascending or descending the pitch, such as by bending or using the whammy bar.
=== Octave Markings ===
"8va" with a line above notes indicates to play them one octave higher. "15ma" indicates two octaves higher.