How to Read Music - Level 1 (High Voices)

This series of lessons is designed for adult singers who would like to learn how to read music.

If you are a member of a vocal group and are frustrated at having to pick up the melody from the singers around you, then this series is for you. If you are an adult who doesn't play a musical instrument but would still like to understand how to read music, this series is for you too. 

This course is for female singers (soprano, alto, mezzo-soprano) but may also be used by male tenor voices or anyone who wants to learn the treble clef. 

The key to learning anything successfully is to do a little and do it often. With this in mind, the course has been structured so that each lesson will only take up about five minutes of your day. For best results, do a lesson every day or every couple of days. Are you ready? Let's start!

1a. The Staff and Treble Clef

The music you are going to read is written on five lines. These five lines are called the staff (or stave). At the far left hand side of every staff, you will find a curly symbol called a treble clef. 

The treble clef is actually a fancy capital G. The central curly part hugs the second line from the bottom. 

This clef shows you that the second line from the bottom is where we find the note which we call G. 

Click the button to hear what the note G sounds like. Sing along with the note you hear.

1b. How the Staff Works

We use the musical staff to show a variety of different things. 

• Pitch. We write higher notes higher up on the staff. Lower notes are written lower down. This means just by glancing at some music, you can tell whether it's going up in pitch or coming down. 
• Rhythm. We use different shapes of notes to show the precise rhythm of the music. You'll learn about the different note shapes soon.
• Silence. Silences are just as important as notes! We use special symbols to show you when to shut up, and how long for.
• Volume. In music, we call volume control "dynamics". Special words, abbreviations and symbols show you whether to sing like lion or a mouse.
• Expression. Other words, abbrevations and symbols tell you what sort of emotion or phrasing you should give to the music.
• Signposts. Some words or symbols tell you specifically which bar to sing next. Publishers don't like to waste money printing identical notes over and over again, so some symbols are used to tell you which bits to repeat, or where to jump to next in the score.

Don't worry if that sounds like a lot! The most fundamental part of reading music is understanding the pitch and rhythm represented, so that's what you need to focus on first.