Musical Notation

Savannah

Musical notation can be defined as a system used to visually represent music. Through the ages, there have been many different ways of portraying music in a way that we could see. Here are some basic musical notations and their meanings.

You start with a staff, that’s the lines that the music notes go on. Each line or space on the staff corresponds to a different note, which depends on what clef the music is in.

A musical staff

Treble clef, C clef, and bass clef

There are three kinds of clefs. Treble clef, where the bottom line of the staff is an F; bass clef, where the bottom line is a G; and C clef. C clefs—also known as alto clefs—are not used frequently and it can vary in which notes go where. The center of the symbol for a C clef is always on whatever middle C is on that staff.


When looking at music, the lines interrupting the staff vertically are called bar lines. They split the music up into measures.

Bar lines separating the measures

Different notes are held for different amounts of time and often that time depends on the key signature. What is certain is how they relate to one another. For example, a whole note is as long as two half notes, and two half notes are as long as two quarter notes, from there it’s broken down into eighths, sixteenths, thirty-seconds, and so on.

Note duration chart

Rests and their relation to notes

There are also rests when there’s supposed to be silence. They are notated differently than the notes, but they have corresponding durations. A whole rest is the same duration of a whole note, just silent. Same with half notes versus half rests, quarter notes and quarter rests, and so on and so forth.

Notation for different accidentals

More on notes: sometimes the pitches of notes need to be modified and that’s done using accidentals. These are sharps, flats, and natural signs. Sharps raise the pitch a half step, flats lower the pitch a half step. Natural signs make sure the note is played without a sharp or a flat. If there’s a natural sign instead of a sharp, the natural lowers the pitch a half step. If there’s a natural sign instead of a flat, it raises the pitch a half step.

Music uses key signatures to give songs a specific key. Key signatures are a way to add accidentals to the music without having to notate them with a sharp or a flat every time they occur. The key of C Major has no sharps or flats, and is often represented with a large C. Key signatures are written before the clef on the staff.

The circle of fifths represents the key signatures of major and minor scales

Examples of time signatures

After the clef goes the time signature. Time signatures consist of two numbers, one on top of the other. The top number represents how many beats are in a measure. The bottom number says which note gets the beat. In 4/4 time, there are four beats in a measure and the quarter note gets the beat. Meanwhile in 6/8, there are six beats in a measure and the eighth note gets the beat. These are just two examples of many time signatures.


Musical notation takes awhile to learn, and is easiest to learn through experience. Even what has been put in this post barely even scratches the surface of all of the musical notation that’s out there. This type of communication that musicians use is fascinating, and definitely worth checking out.

While writing this I realized how difficult it is to describe musical notation. I thought that, since it’s something I work with everyday, it wouldn’t be hard to try and teach. That wasn’t the case at all. I noted that musical notation is more complex than it seems.