subject: How To Read Sheet Music For Guitarists [print this page] How To Read Sheet Music For Guitarists How To Read Sheet Music For Guitarists
If you're not familiar with it, music notation can look like some bizarre lost language of an alien tribe that really likes a lot of dots. In reality though, music notation is very simple to read if you follow these few easy tips. To follow along with this article, have some sheet music in front of you and I'll lead you through it.
I'd like you to remember that music notation is simply the instructions on how to play a song. That means that your end goal isn't to read the music, but to play it. The sheet music is no different than the instruction book that comes with a new TV. But music is such a nebulous concept that we had to create language to communicate how to express it. And so, in the early 1600's, our system of notation was created.
There are three basic parts to notation that apply to guitarists:
- Standard Notation
- Tablature
- Chord Symbols
All of them have their pros and cons and they're best used in conjunction with the others. For a good example of what good guitar notation should look like pick up any books of songs published by Cherry Lane.
Let's start with Standard Notation...
Pros:
- Gives the most in depth information into the piece
- Allows you to see the interval structure of chords (the distances between the notes)
- Lets you see the "shape" of the lines you're playing (ie. You can see if the music is going up or down.)
- Applicable to multiple instruments
Cons:
- It doesn't tell you which position to play that particular note in. On guitar you can play an E in a zillion places, but standard notes aren't instrument specific, so they don't include position markings.
On guitar we only need to use the treble clef, sometimes called a G clef. That's the one that kind of looks like a backwards cursive "S" that you see on pencils and earrings and such. There are other clefs, but guitarists don't use them.
The clef is placed at the beginning of each stave (or staff), which is a set of 5 lines. These lines do not correspond the strings on the guitar like tabs do.
After the clef will be the key signature. This is a collection of 0-7 sharps or flats that tell you to sharp or flat particular notes every time you run across them in the music. So if there's a sharp on the F line, you'll play F# every time you see F in the piece.
After the key signature comes the meter or time signature. This gives you two pieces of information. The top number tells you how many beats in each measure. If it's a 4, then you'll count 1-2-3-4. If it's a 6, then you'd count 1-2-3-4-5-6. The bottom number tells you which kind of note gets one beat. Think of this as a fraction. If there's a 4 in the bottom, it's like 1/4, which means a quarter note gets one beat. That's what you'll see most of the time, but it can change.
Then we get to the notes. There are two aspects to every note, pitch and rhythm. We find the pitch (which note to play) by looking at which line or space the note is on. Here's an easy way to remember it. The space notes, bottom to top, are F-A-C-E, which spells.... Face! As I'm sure you know, the musical alphabet goes from A to G. After G it simply starts over again at A. So to figure out the line notes in between the space notes, just use your alphabet. The 2nd space (from the bottom) is A, the 3rd space is C. In between is B on the line. The bottom space is F, the 2nd is A. The line would then be G.
Then we need the rhythm of the note. There's four main ones to start with.
Whole Note - Looks like a circle. A whole note gets four beats. That means pluck the note and let it right for four beats.
Half Note - Looks like a whole note with a stem either coming down on the left side or up on the right. A half note gets two beats.
Quarter Note - Looks like a black dot with a stem either coming down on the left or up on the right. A quarter note gets one beat.
Eighth Note - Looks like a quarter note with a flag on the stem. It will also be seen "flagged together" with a bar connecting the stems of two or more eighth notes. Each eighth note get half of a beat.
You may also see 16th notes (2 flags), and 32nd notes (3 flags). They get a quarter of a beat and an eighth of a beat respectively.
Sometimes you'll see a dot next to a note. That tells you to increase the note by half of its normal value. So a dotted half note gets 3 beats (2+1). A dotted quarter note gets one and a half beats (1+1/2).
The last thing you'll often see in standard notation is a lot of Italian words like "allegro" or "dolce". These are words telling you about tempo, volume level, and the feel of the piece. Your best bet is to pick up a small music dictionary and look up any words you don't know.
That's your basics of standard notation. A good way to start practicing is to just read the note names. Then practice clapping the rhythms. Then try playing it on your guitar. Just like learning a new language, using this on a daily basis a little bit at a time, will help you learn it quickly.
Next up is tablature...
Pros:
- Tells you exactly where to play the note on your guitar
- Involves less translation than standard notation
- Specific to guitar
Cons:
- There's no rhythm component, so you have to already know what the songs sounds like.
- It doesn't show you the interval structures or shape of the melody.
You may be familiar with tablature. It's the most common form of notation you see on download sites for guitar songs. Tabs have a set of six lines, one for each string of the guitar. The notation will consist of numbers on those lines corresponding to frets on your guitar. Find the right string and the right fret and there's your note!
It's a very simple system, but as mentioned above, its biggest downfall is the lack of a rhythm component. You know what note to play, but not for how long. Tabs are best used with standard notation. You'll also see a sort of combination system that has tablature numbers with rhythm flags. For an example look at Guitar World magazine.
Lastly we have chord symbols....
Pros:
- Quick way to just get the chords for a song
- Gives you a birds eye view of the standard notation
Cons:
- No rhythm or position elements
- Only the most basic info about the song
Sometimes you'll find a download that just has the lyrics with chord symbols above them. Or you'll see standard notation with chord symbols written above the notes. These look like C, G7, Bbm7, F#m7(b5), and others.
These symbols give you a good overview of the notes to be played. Grab your chord and go to town. By themselves, they're handy if you already know what the song sounds like and you just need to know what chords to play. When they're coupled with standard notation, they give you a short hand for knowing what notes to expect. For instance, if it's says G7, then you know the notes in the staff will be selected from G B D F.
On the page, you'll find the chord symbols on top, standard notation next level down, then tablature. This gives you the basic structure on top, more in depth info about the notes and rhythm on the second level, then the position on the guitar in the third level.
It takes a bit of time to get used to and good at reading sheet music. Just like learning a new language, like I mentioned above. Do it a little bit every day and you'll get comfortable with it quickly.
