Learn about clefs. Clefs are the odd-looking symbols at the extreme left of the musical staff. The staff is the collection of five horizontal lines upon which music is written. There are two types of clef, a treble clef and a bass clef. The treble clef looks like a flamboyant “g” and the bass clef looks like a hook. Identify whether you are reading or writing on the bass or treble staff before you start to place or read notes.
Remember the position of the notes. On the treble staff, the lowest line represents the note E. If a note is drawn so the bottom line goes through the dot, the note is E. Notes can also be drawn in the spaces between the lines. If a note is on the space above the E line, then it represents an F. The next line up represents G, and so on.The bass staff works in the same way, except that the lowest line represents G. Notes can also be drawn above or below the five-line staff, but horizontal marker lines are drawn in the relevant positions to indicate where the absent line would be. There are games online that can help test your knowledge and build a general memory (see Resources).
Learn about time signatures. Time signatures determine how many beats fit into each bar. A bar is a period of time marked with a vertical line spanning across the staff. The time signature is found to the right of the clef, and will usually read 4/4 or C (for common time). The top number is the amount of notes that can fit into a bar. In the time signature of 4/4, four quarter notes go into each bar. There are many other, more complicated time signatures such as 6/8 and 7/8.
Find out about the different types of notes. Quarter notes are used commonly, and they are probably the note that comes to mind when you imagine a musical note – a dot with a stem extending upward from one side. A quarter note with a hollowed out dot is a half note, meaning that it takes up twice the length of time (so only two of them can fit in a 4/4 bar). A hollowed out note without a stem is a whole note, which takes up an entire bar. There are also eighth notes, which are like quarter notes, but the stem has a shorter tail.
Learn about performance directions. Occasionally you may notice an “f” or “p” above or below certain sections of notes. These are sound directions, and they are Italian words for loud and soft. An “f” is “forte,” which means loud, and a “p” is “piano,” or soft. If “ff” or “pp” appears it means very loud (“fortissimo”) or very soft (“pianissimo”).