Learn the musical staff; it has five lines and four spaces that represent the different notes. The best way to learn the staff is to memorize certain acronyms. The four spaces on the treble clef are the notes F, A, C, E. Every Good Boy Does Fine helps you memorize the lines of the treble clef as E, G, B, D, F. Any notes above the staff follow the musical alphabet forward and any notes below the staff follow the musical alphabet backward. The musical alphabet is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and the octave C. You can refer to a free online chart to help you understand the full musical staff in both treble and bass clef (see Resources).
Understand clef signs, time signatures and key signatures. The clef is the notation at the start of the musical staff that determines the pitch of the notes. A time signature, written 4/4, tells you how many beats there are in a bar of music. 4/4 is also known as common time because it is the most frequently used. The key signature will be indicated by sharp (#) or flat (b) symbols written on the appropriate notes. This tells you which key the music is played.
Learn note values. A note value is how long a note is played, which in turn tells you how many notes will fit into a bar of music on the staff. Bars are divided by vertical lines. Whole notes are equal to four beats and take up an entire bar of music on the 4/4 time signature. Two half notes fill the common time as they are equal to two beats. Other note values include quarter notes, eighth notes and sixteenth notes. Refer to a free online note value chart when in doubt (see Resources).
Use a curved line between notes to indicate the notes are to be tied together and played as one unbroken value. A dot after a note extends the length of that note by half. Add a diagonal line between notes to indicate sliding from one note to the next.
Refer to a musical notation guide. There are hundreds of symbols that extend beyond the basic notation most music uses. Just like language, a handy guide can get you over any obstacles you encounter and will probably be useful for years. Either purchase a beginner's book on note reading or refer to a reputable website (see Resources).