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Lesson 1: Structure - Standard Music Notation

Standard music notation is a type of written, musical language that can be translated into pitches on an instrument. It's quite similar to normal, written language in that the words on a page can then be translated into speech.

The sample piece below is a preview of the elements found in standard music notation.

At first glance, this piece appears to be an odd jumble of nonsense symbols, but it's actually clearly formatted, once you understand music notation (which you will, by the end of this tutorial).

Below is the same sample piece with each element highlighted and labeled.

Flustered? Don't worry. In the next sections, we will cover each of these musical concepts in detail.

Lesson Overview

1. Music Notes
2. Music Bars
3. Measures
4. Clefs
5. Key Signature
6. Time Signature
7. Tempo
8. Dynamics