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Reading Music

I applied to a college for Preparatory Music/Applied Music. They have prerequisites, part of it states that one must be able to read music. So, I searched out the web and learned about Bass Clefs and Treble Clefs, Time Signatures, Types of notes like Whole Note, Half Note, Quarter Notes ect. Rests and Symbols and all. There's more stuff I believe and gets a bit complicated to understand after. An instructor would obviously help and answer my questions. I hope this tread will generate quite a valuable knowledge for any artist/musician. Imagination has a lot to offer.

Can anyone read music? If you can could you please discuss.

I had another query about Royal Contemporary Music. My prerequisite also requires to have a certain Grade/Levels of RCM.

Did anyone write this exam?

Thanks for discussing and sharing,

Axer

i know how to read music =P been playing music for almost 10 years now ^^
what kind of questions you got?

yes,

it's really quite easy to read music



just remember treble clef: (E)very (G)ood (B)oy (D)oes (F)ine if it's on the LINE


and the notes in the spaces in treble clef spell out FACE from bottom to top




stupid, but when i was 7 years old this worked really well

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1134378

Thanks guys, Yeah, I learned about CBAGFEDCBAGFEDCBAGFED.... How does the symbols work? I've came across a few, some are joined together and some a like flipped upside down. I'm having trouble understanding joined symbols and time gaps.

So there's a 4 inside a 1? an 8 inside an 2? 16 inside a 4? I donno if I'm explaining this well.

How much time would it take for one to learn and interpret music?

Can you write down music before actually compose it? Can you convert your music into writings?

What would be my best bet be to learn to read music properly?

Did anyone write RCM examinations?

quote:

Originally posted by Axer Can you write down music before actually compose it?

The "writing down" part is the composing. The traditional Western idea is that the notes on the paper are the music, and individual performances and recordings are just interpretations.

This idea is kind of foreign to people now since we all listen mostly to recordings, and many (maybe most) musicians outside the classical and jazz traditions don't learn to read sheet music anyway.

quote:

How much time would it take for one to learn and interpret music?

The basics don't take very long at all, if you work hard.

To be a truly accomplished musician takes years.

quote:

What would be my best bet be to learn to read music properly?

Train under someone who's been doing it for years, preferably while learning to play an instrument from sheet music.

True, I think writing down is an essential part of composition! Sometimes I come up with a hook and humm it for a while and then I will forget it and sometimes I come up with a hook and would just spit it out on my guitar or drum machine and record it. In any case, writing it down would be like writing a scroll. Editing would be so much easier. I wonder how many electronic music artist do that...

quote:

Originally posted by Axer I wonder how many electronic music artist do that...

it's called a sequencer

i actually wrote some of my melodies on a sheet... i find it easier to play those out on an instrument as im quite used to it by now (reading notes that is..), and i think a thread wont give you much as i cant really explain and show you symbol here... i also think wikipedia has it all

treble clef Every Good Boy Does Fine
bass clef Good Boys Do Fine Always

master clef is a combination of both clefs on two separate ledgers usually used with piano music (or any other instrument that can reach both upper and lower tonal ranges)

it's tough to teach yourself how to read music. but if all you have to do is look at the notes and say, "this is a Bb, half note" or something simple like that then memorization should be easy. and honestly if you're applying to this college in hopes of learning how to produce electronic music, i think you're going the wrong way about it.

quote:

Originally posted by Axer So there's a 4 inside a 1? an 8 inside an 2? 16 inside a 4? I donno if I'm explaining this well. How much time would it take for one to learn and interpret music? What would be my best bet be to learn to read music properly?

1st question- are you talking about time signatures? most electronic, hell most popular music is written in 4/4. 4 beats per measure, the quarter note gets the beat. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 etc. other examples are like, 6/8.. six beats per measure, eigth note gets the beat. 1 2 3 1 2 3 or 1 2 3 4 5 6 etc etc, depending on how you're comfortable counting

i can't explain the meaning of notes and rests without mspainting something up but you can read all about it online i'm sure. real quick- in 4/4 time,

whole notes (big circle) are held for an entire measure (4 beats)
half notes (hollowed out note) are held for half a measure (2 beats)
quarter notes (solid black note) are held for a quarter measure (1 beat)
eighth notes (solid black note, flag) are held for an eighth measure (.5 beat)

so there are the time equivalent of two eighth notes in one quarter note, two quarter notes in one half, etc etc. a dot next to the note means it's held for 1 and a half it's original time. a dotted half note, for example, means it's held for 3 beats (2 beats for the half note and 1 beat for the dot). rests are notated in a similar manner.

2nd question- depends on how long you practice and how often you force yourself to read music, it's best to grab an instrument you know how to play and teach yourself to read really simple shit like old macdonald and work your way up from there

3rd question- do it yourself as i explained it above or hire someone to teach you. i'll teach you for $100 an hour. callme

quote:

Originally posted by Omega_Blue treble clef Every Good Boy Does Fine bass clef Good Boys Do Fine Always master clef is a combination of both clefs on two separate ledgers usually used with piano music (or any other instrument that can reach both upper and lower tonal ranges) it's tough to teach yourself how to read music. but if all you have to do is look at the notes and say, "this is a Bb, half note" or something simple like that then memorization should be easy. and honestly if you're applying to this college in hopes of learning how to produce electronic music, i think you're going the wrong way about it. 1st question- are you talking about time signatures? most electronic, hell most popular music is written in 4/4. 4 beats per measure, the quarter note gets the beat. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 etc. other examples are like, 6/8.. six beats per measure, eigth note gets the beat. 1 2 3 1 2 3 or 1 2 3 4 5 6 etc etc, depending on how you're comfortable counting i can't explain the meaning of notes and rests without mspainting something up but you can read all about it online i'm sure. real quick- in 4/4 time, whole notes (big circle) are held for an entire measure (4 beats) half notes (hollowed out note) are held for half a measure (2 beats) quarter notes (solid black note) are held for a quarter measure (1 beat) eighth notes (solid black note, flag) are held for an eighth measure (.5 beat) so there are the time equivalent of two eighth notes in one quarter note, two quarter notes in one half, etc etc. a dot next to the note means it's held for 1 and a half it's original time. a dotted half note, for example, means it's held for 3 beats (2 beats for the half note and 1 beat for the dot). rests are notated in a similar manner. 2nd question- depends on how long you practice and how often you force yourself to read music, it's best to grab an instrument you know how to play and teach yourself to read really simple shit like old macdonald and work your way up from there 3rd question- do it yourself as i explained it above or hire someone to teach you. i'll teach you for $100 an hour. callme

More questions, How are the both clefs identified on a piano? Like you said, from left to right is the bass clef to treble clef transition? Does the black keys and white keys has names for them?

Well, technically I'm an electronic music producer and I work with digital music, primary reason for going to a college is to know what I'm doing. LOL

Yeah, I'm talking about time signature, I guess there's a kick on quarter note for proper regardless of the tempo.

Thanks for the note updates, some pictures would definitely help me
identify the notes. I never knew that each note has a symbol too!

So, dotted notes are similar to rests?

Are you from Toronto? I can buy you a pack of smoke for each lesson like oldschool!

quote:

Originally posted by Axer More questions, How are the both clefs identified on a piano? Like you said, from left to right is the bass clef to treble clef transition? Does the black keys and white keys has names for them?

a clef is relevant only to notation.

basically it just sets the frame of reference for the notation, so that it is centered around the notes that are most relevant for that part.

for example, if everything was bass clef, and a flute had to play an A5, then you'd have to add like 20 little lines above the staff to note it

quote:

Originally posted by nefardec a clef is relevant only to notation. basically it just sets the frame of reference for the notation, so that it is centered around the notes that are most relevant for that part. for example, if everything was bass clef, and a flute had to play an A5, then you'd have to add like 20 little lines above the staff to note it

Woah! I just learned something, the notations are on different staffs and sounds different on each...what if the notation is on the top staff? and what if the notation is on the bottom staff?

I've also seen notations of different types like some are hollow and some are full circled...what's up with that?

What about notations that are turned left or right?

What about notations that has the bars up and down?

Say, four notations jointed together on the same staff, should be keyed fourtimes, right?

Horray for notations!!!

to answer your questions:

if there are two staves, that means there are two parts. in piano, the bottom is the left and (usually) bass cleff (because the left hand is farther down the scale), and the top staff is (usually) treble cleff (because the right hand is farther up the scale)


hollow notes and solid notes indicate the length that the note is held. You should really buy a little music theory book, this would be on page one.

this is what you'd see (that took me 1 sec on google)




a whole note lasts the entire measure, a half note is 2 quarter notes, etc etc


http://www.cinderzelda.com/musictutor/musictut.htm


the direction of the stem of the note is purely to save room on the page. if it's above the third line of the staff it points down, if it's below, it points up.

i think by 'bar' you mean 'rest'. whole rests are indicated by a short bar below the line, half rests are above.



you need to distinguish between "notes" and "rests". notes are round little things, they can have stems, flags, or neither, they can be hollow or solid.

rests are either bars or little circles and lines

look at this picture

I'm really appreciative of the 7 years I spent in the school band. On the outside it looks kind of dumb, but I swear you learn so much if you have a good conductor.

I thought reading music means to understand how the music will sound by just reading the full score. Like 1.identifying all the chords and interval and have the impression of their actual sound colour 2.know how the timbre of the instruments sound like at different register 3.anticipate the resolution of dissonance and get an image and understanding of the out of norm practice. and etc.
definitely not just knowing what the definitions of those little symbols are.

well, obviously you have to know what the little notes are first, before you can interpret the color of the sound.

fucking lol, what are you thinking? the guy doesn't know the difference between a rest and a whole note...

baby steps, man

quote:

Originally posted by iammesol I'm really appreciative of the 7 years I spent in the school band. On the outside it looks kind of dumb, but I swear you learn so much if you have a good conductor.

truth. school band, piano lessons from mom, jazz band, and band camp is where i learned everything.

Axer - do you play any instruments? i think the best way to learn to read music is by actually playing the music. piano lessons might be a good start. you could easily learn the basics of reading music and a whole lot more if you have a good teacher.

quote:

Originally posted by l�cid truth. school band, piano lessons from mom, jazz band, and band camp is where i learned everything. Axer - do you play any instruments? i think the best way to learn to read music is by actually playing the music. piano lessons might be a good start. you could easily learn the basics of reading music and a whole lot more if you have a good teacher.

I play drums, a little bit guitar and little bit of keyboard and a harmonica. I still have to figure out how to read it out proper. If there's something called progressive jazz...that's me! LOL. I think, I'll be taking piano lessons during my semesters.

quote:

Originally posted by Axer I play drums, a little bit guitar and little bit of keyboard and a harmonica. I still have to figure out how to read it out proper. If there's something called progressive jazz...that's me! LOL. I think, I'll be taking piano lessons during my semesters.

guitar that you learned from TAB on the internet doesn't count when it comes to reading music bro

any other questions other than the ones that adam answered (quite well) feel free to post em

quote:

Originally posted by Axer What about notations that has the bars up and down? Say, four notations jointed together on the same staff, should be keyed fourtimes, right? Horray for notations!!!

1. that doesn't make any sense, bars are the "musical phrases" of a piece, unless you meant rests (as adam mentioned) which never changes notation-wise (unlike the direction of the "flag" of a note)

2. four notes joined together... you know what here just look at this

quote:

The system uses a five-line staff. Pitch is shown by placement of notes on the staff (sometimes modified by accidentals), and duration is shown with different note values and additional symbols such as dots and ties. Notation is read from left to right, which makes setting music for right-to-left scripts difficult. A staff of written music generally begins with a clef, which indicates the particular range of pitches encompassed by the staff. Notes representing a pitch outside of the scope of the five line staff can be represented using ledger lines, which provide a single note with additional lines and spaces. Following the clef, the key signature on a staff indicates the key of the piece by specifying certain notes to be flat or sharp throughout the piece, unless otherwise indicated. Following the key signature is the time signature. Measures (bars) divide the piece into regular groupings of beats, and the time signatures specifies those groupings. Directions to the player regarding matters such as tempo and dynamics are added above or below the staff. For vocal music, lyrics are written.

read this, and if you have any questions, post em

trust everything Omega_Blue says. he sleeps with a quilt that has music written all over it.

quote:

Originally posted by nefardec yes, it's really quite easy to read music just remember treble clef: (E)very (G)ood (B)oy (D)oes (F)ine if it's on the LINE and the notes in the spaces in treble clef spell out FACE from bottom to top stupid, but when i was 7 years old this worked really well http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1134378

You humans and your pesky treble clef.

I got a letter from the college last weekend. I think, I'll some how manage to get into the program as a mature student. If I have more questions I'll definitely refer and bump this thread again.

Music theory for dummies - srsly, pretty good book. I went to music school for 4 years and I sucked at music theory. I played all my recitals by ear and had mostly A's. My teacher was shocked when he found out in my 4th year that I could not read the sheet music. To this day I still struggle. I even installed Sibellius to force myself to learn it and write my melodies down in music notation.

Boards of Canada - Music is Math

quote:

Originally posted by Axer I got a letter from the college last weekend. I think, I'll some how manage to get into the program as a mature student. If I have more questions I'll definitely refer and bump this thread again.

"Mature?" I hope by that you mean age 25+? rather than advanced theory knowledge.

I wouldn't dish out the funds to be lectured on the differences between 3/4 and 12/8. Educate yourself on the basics as most of it can simply be obtained by memorization & a smidge of understanding. Once you progress, get a proper instructor and an even better instrument.

Best luck.

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