Think about musical notes as representing different lengths of time. Music is a temporal art form and musical notation needs a way to represent the passage of time. Musical notation uses different types of notes to represent different time values. The primary notes used in musical notation are whole notes (four notes per beat), half notes (two notes per beat), quarter notes (one note per beat), eighth note (two notes per beat), and sixteenth notes (four notes per beat).
Arrange musical notes in alphabetical order. Each note has a name, and the names of the notes follow each other in alphabetical order. For example, a C major scale is CDEFGABD. The D minor scale is DEFGABCD.
Learn how the notes are arranged on the page. Musical notes are written on a five-line graph called musical clef. The clef is either a treble clef or bass clef. The notes are written on the lines and in the spaces between the lines. Each line or space represents a particular note. For example, the bottom line of a treble clef is "E" and the bottom space above the line is "F".
Interpret the time signature. Musical notation is written in measures, and the measures are separated by a vertical line. The time signature is represented by two numbers stacked on top of one another at the beginning of a sheet of music. For example, 4/4, 3/4 and 6/8. The top number represents how many notes per measure and the bottom number tells how many notes make up one beat.
Search online for free musical notation lessons and instruction. Numerous online sources are available with diagrams that make learning musical notation quite easy. See readsheetmusic.info.
Peruse the music section of the local library . Most libraries have music theory and pedagogical literature. Look for books that are oriented towards the specific instrument that you play such as guitar, piano or saxophone.
Ask musician friends for books and lessons. A lot of musicians have books laying around the house that they used in the early stages of learning their instrument. Ask to borrow the books for a while. Ask your friend to tutor or mentor you in the basics.
Visit yard sales and garage sales. Pay attention to the ones that are selling used books. It is often possible to find various types of music books at such sales. The book won't be free, but it may only be 50 cents to a dollar.