On the one hand, learning to read sheet music can be hard, especially for musicians who have already learned by ear.

But on the other, if you take it one thing at a time, practicing as you learn, you can get a hang of it.

Learning to read music is like learning a language.

Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Jacob Collier explains why knowing the language of music is so important.

“Essentially, what harmony is, is it’s like a language,” he says. “And so as with any language, the more words you’re capable of speaking in a language, the more you can say.”

The very first thing you need to do is understand the basics of music notation. You need to learn some terminology and the basic music notation symbols. 

Music is written on a staff, which consists of five horizontal lines. Notes are placed on these lines and spaces to indicate pitch.

Pitch is the specific frequency of a sound, which tells us how high or low a note sounds.

The higher the note is placed on the staff, the higher the pitch, and the lower the note is placed, the lower the pitch.

Clefs are symbols placed at the beginning of the staff to indicate the pitch range.

The most common are the treble clef (G-clef) and bass clef (F-clef).

You’ll need to memorize the note names and their positions on the staff.

Mnemonic devices are helpful, like Every Good Boy Does Fine (EGBDF) for the treble clef lines and All Cows Eat Grass (ACEG) for the bass clef spaces.

Grand staff with note names:

Accidentals (sharps, flats, and naturals) alter the pitch of notes and are crucial for reading music in various keys.

Don’t be confused by the name – they are no accident.

The duration of a note is called the sound envelope.

The basic rhythmic note values we see most often are:

• The whole note (which lasts four beats)
• The half-note (lasting two beats)
• The quarter-note (lasting one beat)
• The eighth-note (lasting one-half a beat)
• The sixteenth-note (which lasts a quarter of a beat)

Here are a few more notation symbols that can change the duration:

• Stems: The vertical lines attached to the note heads. They indicate the note’s rhythmic value and can point either up or down, depending on the note’s position on the staff (ex. a quarter note has a stem, while a whole note does not).
• Flags: Curved lines attached to the stem of a note. Flags indicate that the note is shorter in duration, typically an eighth note or smaller. Each flag halves the note’s duration.
• Beams: Horizontal lines that connect the stems of two or more notes. Beams replace flags when multiple short-duration notes (like eighth notes or sixteenth notes) are grouped together, making the music easier to read.
• Ties: Curved lines that connect two notes of the same pitch. Ties indicate that the notes should be played as a single, sustained note, with the combined duration of both notes.

This sounds strange, but a rest is also a note – except you “play” it silently. Like notes, rests have a beginning, duration, and end.

Rests use the same divisions of time as the notes to the beat, but they are written differently. In reading, we learn to emphasize the value of the rests internally to compensate for there being no sound during the rest.

It’s such an important concept to grasp because we won’t know when to play the next note unless we know when a rest ends.

Reading rhythms is one of the more challenging aspects of learning to read music accurately, but it’s so important. To perform a note correctly, it must be played at precisely the right moment.

It’s helpful to practice reading rhythms independently from individual pitches.

Drummers often focus on rhythm exclusively, and even if you’re not a drummer, you can practice reading rhythms by tapping, playing, or singing the notes on a single pitch.

Below are some foundational musical concepts that relate to reading rhythms…

Meter in music is like the rhythm or pulse that you feel when you listen to a song. It’s the pattern of strong and weak beats that keeps repeating.

For example, in a meter of 3, imagine you’re counting “1, 2, 3” over and over again. The 1 is the strong beat, and it stands out, while the 2 and 3 are softer.

In a meter of 4, you’d count “1, 2, 3, 4.” In this example, 1 is the strongest beat, the 3 is a little less strong, and the “2” and “4” are the softest. It’s like marching to a rhythm where some steps are stronger than others.

Imagine you’re clapping along to a song. The time signature is like a code that tells you how many claps to do in each group and how fast to clap.

The first number tells you how many claps are in each group, and the second number tells you what kind of clap it is, like a fast one or a slow one.

The time signature in music tells you how to count the beats in a song. It helps you know how to count and feel the rhythm as you play or listen to the music.

It’s made up of two numbers, one on top of the other, and you find it at the beginning of the staff.

The top number tells you how many beats there are in each measure. The bottom number tells you what kind of note gets one beat.

In music, we talk about rhythm in two main ways: simple time and compound time.

Think of it like this: simple time is like counting one step at a time, and compound time is like counting tiny skips within each step.

Tempo markings in music tell you how fast or slow to play the piece.

They’re like the speed limit signs on a road, showing you how fast or slow you should be playing.

These markings can be described in two ways:

• Words like “brightly,” “slowly,” “medium,” “medium-fast,” “allegro” (which means fast), or “andante” (which means walking speed). These give you a general idea of how the music should feel.
• Numbers called beats per minute (BPM), which are more exact. For example, 60 BPM means you play one beat every second, while 120 BPM is twice as fast.

Sometimes, tempo markings also tell you about a specific style, like “swing” or “ballad,” which gives the music a certain mood or groove.

In musical notation, “accelerando” tells the player or conductor to gradually increase the tempo, while “ritardando” (often abbreviated as “rit.”) signals a gradual decrease in tempo.

These changes remain in effect for as long as the dashes or dots extend after the term is used.

A fermata, which looks like a small “bird’s-eye,” tells the musicians to pause the music for a moment.

The length of the pause is often left to the discretion of the performers or the conductor.

The term “a tempo” tells the musicians to return to the previous tempo after a change has been prompted by a fermata, accelerando, or ritardando.

A key signature is a set of sharps (#) or flats (♭) placed at the beginning of a piece of music, right after the clef and before the time signature.

These symbols tell you which notes you need to play as sharp or flat throughout the piece.

The key signature helps set the tone or “key” of the music, showing whether the music is based on a major or minor scale.

Here’s an image you should save for future reference. We’ll explain what this means in the sections below…

If you look at the above image of the Circle of Fifths, starting from the top and moving clockwise, you’ll see the sharp keys.

Each time you move to a new key in this direction, you add another sharp to the key signature, up to seven sharps, which is the key of C#.

Now, if you go counterclockwise from the top of the Circle of Fifths, you’ll find the flat keys.

Each new key adds another flat to the key signature, up to seven flats, which is the key of Cb.

The Circle of Fifths also shows you the relative minor keys, which are related to each major key.

The relative minor is based on the 6th note of the major scale, or a minor 3rd below the root note of the major scale.

Sometimes, different key names can actually refer to the same set of notes.

For example, G flat and F sharp sound the same but are written differently. This is called being enharmonic.

Feel free to start just with the information we’ve already covered. As a beginner to sheet music, the below tips are for when you’re ready, so don’t worry about them yet if you feel overwhelmed. (But come back to them eventually!)

Chord symbols are like shortcuts that tell you which chords to play in a piece of music.

They use letters and numbers to describe the chords, like triads (three-note chords), sixth chords, seventh chords, and more complex ones with added notes like 9, 11, or 13. These symbols also tell you if the chord is major, minor, or something else.

Dynamics are symbols in music that tell you how loud or soft to play.

For example, “pp” means play very quietly, and “ff” means play very loudly.

The volume can change gradually, shown by symbols called crescendo (getting louder) or decrescendo (getting softer).

Articulations show you how to play each note, like making it short and snappy (staccato) or smooth and connected (slur). These markings help you understand the style and expression of the music.

“Sheet music” is a general term that can refer to different kinds of written music.

For example, some music books have notes for piano, vocals, and guitar all on the same page, with lyrics and chord symbols included.

Lead sheets are simpler – they usually just show the melody and chord symbols. This makes them great for playing in a band because they’re easy to read and take up less space on the page.

Tablature (or “tabs”) is a way to write music for guitar and bass that shows where to put your fingers on the fretboard. While tabs can be helpful, learning to read standard sheet music gives you more flexibility in playing different instruments.

When you see “ad lib” in music, it means you have the freedom to make up your own part within certain limits.

For example, you might create your own melody or fill in a section of the music. This is a chance to be creative, but you still need to match the style and harmony of the piece.

Sometimes, the same note can have two different names.

For example, D flat (Db) is the same as C sharp (C#).

This is called enharmonic spelling. It’s important to use the correct name depending on the key you’re in, so the music makes sense.

Occasionally, composers or arrangers use special words on the sheet music to tell you how to play a passage.

These might be instructions like “play with a growl” or “perform playfully.” These words give you clues on how to add expression and make the music come alive.

As a musician, your job is to interpret these instructions and bring your creativity to the performance.

At this point, you might be wondering…is all of this worth it? Why is it so important to read sheet music?

Well, learning to read sheet music is important for several reasons:

1. Music’s Universal Language: Sheet music is a language that helps musicians communicate with each other so they can play a piece of music cohesively with each other. No matter where you go, if you can read sheet music, you can play music with others.
2. Understanding How Music Works: Sheet music helps you see how music is put together, like how rhythms, melodies, and harmonies work. This makes it easier to understand and create your own music.
3. Playing More (and New) Songs: A lot of music, especially older and classical pieces, is written in sheet music. Knowing how to read it means you can play tons of songs that you’d otherwise have to try and learn by ear.
4. Playing Music Correctly: Sheet music shows you exactly how a piece should be played, with the right notes, rhythm, and expression. This helps you play the music the way it was meant to be played without relying solely on what you hear.
5. Write Your Own Music: Reading sheet music gives you the freedom to change, arrange, or even write your own music. You can share your musical ideas with others by wr