Reading Music Notes on the Staff
Playing by ear is fun to do and takes much talent, but only playing by ear can place limits on your musicianship. What if you want to share your song with others, or write it down to remember it? What if you wanted to play a song that you have never heard, or one that you can only remember a part of? Reading and writing the notes isn't any harder than reading words, and it can broaden your playing in many ways.
If you can already read music, but want to improve on your skills, try these to help you grow into a more accomplished musician! There are several places for "reading" musicians to practice and improve listening / auditory skills of intervals, chord and chord progressions, and improvisation.
This Reading Music lens is joyfully dedicated to the current and past music students of J.O.Y. Music Studio! :D I hope this information helps you become the best musician you can be!
Music Student & Teacher Resources
- Joyful Songs
- My music education blog contains music units, lesson plans, lapbooks, worksheets, and games!
I try to add a few new things each month, so please feel free to stop by frequently. :D - J.O.Y. Music Studio
- If you are a parent or student of JOY Music Studio, please feel free to join my studio's private yahoo group. We will also be able to communicate easier to one another. Information sheets that I have given to the students, schedules for ensemble practices, recital information, and TONS of additional resources are there just for you to study and have fun with!
- Thomas J. West Music
- Mr. West has some very nice articles offering student musicians tips about their playing and practicing.
- Sheet Music Sources
- Do you love to play new music you've heard or seen the sheet music for? I know I do! It's really exciting to play a fresh piece, especially when it is something you have enjoyed listening to and want to play yourself. Some people like to play by ear, but if you want something written either in chords alone, entire manscript writing, or multiple arrangements, sheet music gives you a boost. The question is then, where are great places to find sheet music online which are legal, well written, easy to use, and economical? As a result of a constant quest for quality online music for myself and my music students, I have created a collection of places I thought were helpful. I have listed free sheet music, downloadable sheet music for instant usage, places to order traditional music books from well known publishers, and other lists which will assist you in finding the style and instrumentation that you want.
Learning Music Theory
- *Music Theory by Ricci Adam
- Fantastic Online Tutorials! If you are serious about your musical studies, check this one out. The written text is simple and well written but thorough. The trainers are fabulous for helping beginners through advanced. Notice that you can change the settings in each one to fit what you want to concentrate on. May be translated into several languages if you are studying one of them.
Theory Lessons (37) ~ From note reading to a variety of chord structures.
Trainer Programs (10) ~ Notes, Keys, Intervals, Triads, Keyboard, Guitar, Brass, Interval Ear Trainer, Scale
Ear Trainer, Chord Ear Trainer
Utilities ~ Chord Calculator, Staff Paper Generator, Matrix Generator
All activities may be done in an online interactive program with sound, or you may download an offline
edition for free. - *Music Theory Web @ teoria
- A great interactive site for learning and practicing music theory. It contains several pages of tutorials and games where you can adapt the settings to your preference and need.
Tutorials ~ Reading Music, Intervals, Scales, Chords, Harmonic Function, & Musical Forms
Ear Training Exercises ~ Notes, Rhythms, Intervals, Scales, Key Signatures, Chords, Harmonic Functions, and
Jazz Reference ~ an alphabetical glossary of musical terms. Instead of just giving you a worded definition, it shows
you examples to look at and hear.
Articles ~ several interesting articles about music theory analysis, composers, instruments, and music history. - *Online Music Theory Helper
- Another one of my favorites! Definately give this one a try if you want to improve your music theory and auditory skills!
Contains: Step by step music theory instruction from note reading through chord progressions,
Fun trainer program games on notes, keys, intervals (written and auditory), triads, keyboard, scale and chord ear trainers,
and Chord Calculator and Staff Music Generators. - *Music Theory @ Music Notes
- Note Reading: Pitch, Values, Meter
Intervals & Scales: Intervals, Scales, Keys
Chords & Symbols: Triads, Inversions, Figured Bass
Expression Marks: Tempo, Dynamics, Style - *Music Theory Drills
- Free Music Theory Drills: These are great practices for mastering note reading!
Name Drills ~ Piano Keys ~ Guitar Frets ~ String Fingerings ~ Rhythms ~
Key Signatures ~ Intervals ~ Scales ~ Chords ~ Counterpoint - Introduction to Reading Music
- A nice place to start - contains the basic information to get going in your studies.
- Free Music Theory Workbooks
- These contain quite a bit of information. The 19 chapters may be read online, printed out, or saved on your PC. You can also find virtual flashcards and other worksheets.
- Wilbur's Music Tutorial
- Theory & Practice Tips
1 - Music Basics
2 - Notes
3 - Rhythm & Tempo
4 - Putting It All Together
5 - Advanced Rhythm - Music Theory Lessons
- 26 Theory Lessons, Quiz and Answer Key for each lesson - middle / high school
- How Music Works
- 9 free tutorials plus software you can download for purchase ~ Senior High+ ~ This would be easier for someone who already plays an instrument.
- Basic Music Theory
- 436 page download (That's because this is just the basic course, wait until you get to advanced. Ahhhhh! Just kidding.) I didn't have time to look carefully, but it looks like tons of mini quizzes to use with the thorough textbook they have for purchase. I think parts of it would be nice review quizzes with any theory program.
- Flash Cards for Music
- Notes on the staff, rhythmic values, and other musical symbols.
- Basic Music Theory Elements
- Several good articles to teach you music theory in the categories of: rhythm, notes, intervals, key signatures, scales, chords, and staff.
- The Music Lab with the San Francisco Symphony Kids
- Follow this colorful fun flash tutorial and games to learn and review numerous musical theory concepts.
Basics: staff, clefs, measures, time signature, beat, notes, pitch, duration, note values
Tempo: speed, pulse, Italian tempo terms (adagio, andante, moderato, allegro, presto)
Rhythm: sounds & silences, repeated patterns, stronger & weaker beats
Pitch: high & low, musical alphabet, staff, click on the keyboard and hear the pitches
Harmony: melody, texture, mood, major & minor; harmonizer - listen to melodies and choose different harmonies to change the mood
Symbols: notes, staff, dynamics, What's the Symbol? Game
Instrumentation: choose different matches of instruments with parts to create
Performalator: read the notes on the staff and play on the keyboard according to color
Composerizer: click and drag random measures onto a staff to create a new song
Alfred Publisher - Music Theory
Reading Pitches on the Staff
This section has information on knowing which notes to play when they are on those little lines and spaces!
- Treble Spaces & Lines, Bass Spaces & Lines
- Click on the pages you are interested in . This is very easy to see and hear the treble clef notes. A fun simple song helps to remember the notes. This can be read and heard online; or you may print or save a pdf of the info.
- Treble Clef Virtual Flashcards
- Read the note on the staff and check your answer.
- Bass Clef Virtual Flashcards
- Read the note on the staff and check your answer.
- Above the Staff Virtual Flashcards
- Read the note on the staff and check your answer.
- Below the Staff Virtual Flashcards
- Read the note on the staff and check your answer.
- Above & Below the Staff
- Read the note on the staff and check your answer.
- Note Names Online Flashcards
- Choose the clef (treble, alto, tenor, or bass), whether or not you want ledger line notes, and if you want flats and sharps to appear on the notes. Then study away!
Look on the left of the page at "Music Theory Flashcards" to find other aspects of music to study: key signatures, intervals, triads, piano note names, reading piano notes, guitar note names, and reading guitar notes. - Sheet Music
- ~ Note Reading Worksheets
~ Tests
~ Lots of free and to purchase sheet music
Piano & Music Theory
Music Theory Lenses
These 3 wonderful pages by LizMac60 will take you step by step with pictures on beginning piano music theory!-
Theory of Music (1)
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Even if you don't play an instrument you can get lots of fun from learning the theory of music. It's all quite logical and is the culmination of centuries of experimenting with how to express music on paper. I hope you will enjoy this first...
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Theory of music (2)
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We press on with our job of learning theory of music. We consolidate what we already know and move on to new things. We will learn some more scales in sharp keys and then look at some flat keys. Music theory is all about writing and describing music...
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Theory of music (3)
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Theory of music can be great fun. It's a bit like doing a crossword fitting all the components together. Intervals and bass clef are two separate subjects but you need to be able to write intervals in the bass clef as well as in the...
Reading Rhythms on the Staff
Try these links to learn more about types of notes and their values, how they make patterns, and how to count rhythms.
- Music Press Distress!
- Fun game for kids! After showing you notes and values, you may help the octopus sort the falling notes into the appropriate bins - yes, I said 'octopus'!
- Note & Rest Duration Flashcards
- Answer the questions about note values.
- Fill The Measure Note Durations Game and Cards
- A game to print and play to help reinforce note values and time signatures.
Fun for Kids!!
Jazz Music Theory
- Jazz Resource Center
- *Jazz Theory ~ Chord Symbols, Dominants & Subdominants, Scales - A Simple Approach
*Jazz Tools ~ Piano Voicings A Systematic Approach, Transcription Series
*Jazz Masters ~ McCoy Tyner, CD Reviews - The World of Jazz Improvisation
- "The series of articles below is part of the syllabus for Jazz Improvisation courses MUS 331,332 and 530 at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Instructor: Prof. Joan Wildman"
- Learn Jazz Piano
- Yes, I know it is for jazz piano, but I think all types of instrumentalists will benefit from the information presented!
- Outside Shore Online Music School
- The "Jazz Improvisation Primer" is free to study jazz online.
- Michael Furstner's Jazclass Courses
- Numerous free lessons about music theory and history are found here along with ones for purchase.
Your Favorite Music Resources!
Please list any music theory resources that you have found to be useful in learning music!
1
Free Rhythm Flashcards
Beat Boppers.com offers free music rhythm flashcar more...2 points
2
http://www.maxhammondphotos.org.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/circle-of-fifths.gif
Circle of 5th Wheel for key signature identificati more...2 points
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Teaching Kids to Sing. com
TeachingKidsToSing.com have a range of downloadabl more...1 point
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Great Music Videos from Lyricise
Your music videos1 point
5
Original Soundtrack
Free Database of information Original Soundtrack d more...0 points
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Learn Piano Online
Affordable easy piano lessons0 points
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How To Read Guitar Tab
How to Read Guitar Tab Chords. To tab a chord the more...0 points
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Free Guitar Software
You can download these Learn Guitar programs, eboo more...0 points
Ear Training
A great many of the websites under "Learning Music Theory" have ear training programs to practice your listening skills that you may want to take a look at! :)
- Interval Identification
- Click to listen to two notes, then identify the intervals or distances between the pitches. See the music theory section above to learn what M2, P5, etc. mean.
- Big Ears: The Original Online Ear Trainer
- Listen to drills and identify them.
- Harmonic Dictation
- Advanced students ~ listen to chord progression and write down what you hear identifying tonic, dominant, and other chords plus writing down alto and tenor parts of the harmony. College music majors need this!
- Contextual Listening
- Advanced ~ Listen to samples to determine the meters, scales and modes, harmonic chordal progressions, and more. Lesson plans are included
Learn by Playing!
Music Reading Games!
- Joyful Songs
- Check out my little place on the web for music games, lessons, and resources.
"Count the Beats" Game
Music Math
Time Signature Game
Woodwind Board Game and Card Games
Music Soccer - game for reading notes - Eek! Shark!
- Choose to play this fun game with treble or bass clef. Three note names must be collected quickly to match the notes on the staff or you will be caught by sharks!
- Music Press Distress!
- Help Oliver the Octopus collect whole notes, half notes, quarter notes and more from the crazy music printing press, and put him put the notes into their correct places!
- Mystery Message Game
- A gameboard and lesson plan are found here.
- Music Manipulatives
- Click on 'Games & Resources" ~ There are so many cool things that I don't know where to start. My favorites are all the flashcards and printable games for music education! Mrs. Layton has very creative and fun ideas!
- Very Cool Flashcards & Games!!
- Mrs. Paradis has numerous songs and sheet music for beginning pianists that she composed to print for free. There are also gorgeous worksheet pages, games, and teaching aids for music theory. Activities and materials to encourage composition are found here also.
Look for the sections of her site for flashcards, theory aids, picture scales, staff paper, rhythm, and miscellaneous other materials. Kids will love the appealing designs and variety of games! - Music Notation Bingo Cards
- They have a trial version of free printable cards, or you can make your own.
- Musical Notes
- Earn 100 points for every note you identify correctly and match with it's piano key. The notes are written in both treble and bass clef and include sharps and flats. It starts easy and becomes harder on each level. The player gets 5 "lives" marked by pianos before the end of the game.
- Music Match Game
- Match notes on the staff to the keys on a piano keyboard with the cute mouse! :)
Software for Learning
Fun Printable Worksheets and More!
- Note Name Worksheets
- These are from a wonderful music education website called "Making Music Fun". The title says it all!
Worksheets:
Color That Note with Charlie the Shark - Don't worry, he looks friendly!
Ready! Set! Go! - Speed Tests - 4 versions - Pick the clef you want to study.
"I Thought That I Was Crazy" - (My dear students, I wanted you to know that I put the worksheet title in quotations so that you would know I wasn't just talking about my sometimes state of mind ~ although some of you may think the title fits me well! :D LOL)
Let's Crossword! Note Names with Scooter and Junior!
Note Code Maker with Oliver Octopus!
Code Breaker with Oliver!
Name That Tune! Worksheet - Free Manuscript Paper
- Several varieties of staff paper to print out for practicing reading and writing notes, or for composing your own piece of music!
- Music Interval Worksheets
- Knowing intervals and patterns make it easier to read music! Practice reading intervals (distances between notes) with these worksheets.
- Making Music Fun Songbook!
- Free printable sheet music in many styles ~ these simple songs can be used to practice reading notes, to sing, or to play on your instrument.
- Music Images
- So many beautiful resources! These are some of the nicest music flashcards I've seen on the web.
For reading music:
~ Music Notation Symbols
~ Free Printable Music Flashcards & Handouts ~ treble and bass clef notes, note values, dynamics, major vs. minor, key signatures, circle of 5th, rests, tempo, and time signature.
Other music materials:
~ Music Icons and Website Sets
~ Instruments Graphics
~ Miscellaneous Music Graphics
~ Printable Guitar Tablature Staff Paper
~ Music Manuscript Paper
~ Links to other music graphics - Rhythm & Note Flashcards
- Currently under construction ~ I'll let you know when it comes back on. ~ Great stuff!
- Montessori Music Materials
- ~ Instrument Cards: Brass, Percussion, String, Woodwind, World Instruments
~ Composer Cards
~ Music Notation Cards: All types of music theory symbols.
~ Music Manipulatives: Staff board and notes to place on it.
~ Music Timeline Demo
Music Units by Me
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Orchestra Lapbook Unit
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Welcome to a marvelous Christmas celebration ~ a holiday party with music, dancing, loved ones, tradition, an unforgetable story, and magical presents that make dreams come true! The annual Nutcracker Ballet is an internation...
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Sheet Music Sources
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Do you love to play new music you've heard or seen the sheet music for? I know I do! It's really exciting to play a fresh piece, especially when it is something you have enjoyed listening to and want to play yourself. Some people like to play by ear,...
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Orchestra: The String Family Lapbook Unit
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Super, spectacular symphonic string instruments! Soothingly sing along with the slow, slippery, sliding bow strokes or skip along with the spirited, sparkling, staccato sounds of strings! Beautiful string instruments have existed far back in human h...
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Ludwig Van Beethoven
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Beethoven is a name almost everyone recognizes throughout the world despite their age, location, or culture. What makes this man's music stand out so clearly in our minds? Even young children can hum out some of his best loved tunes like the 5th Symp...
- Teaching Music with Artistic Combinations
- Music is related to every school subject which is why I try to include many different topics along with the musical aspects. This article gives suggestions how to connect music concepts into the other arts.
- Musical Dancing Elephants!
- A musical unit using "The Elephant" from Carnival of the Animals by Camille St. Saens! You will also see a link to an entire "Elephant" unit for science, math, language arts, art, character, and more that I wrote for Homeschool Share.
- Mozart Unit Study ~ Lapbook & Notebook Materials
- Based around Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, this unit study at Homeschool Share contains activities, notebooking and lapbooking materials, and more for almost every subject:
Language Arts (reading, grammar, verbs, prepositions, synonyms and antonyms, and idioms, vocabulary & spelling)
Science (animals - birds)
Bible and Character Studies
Art (Classical Art, music and art)
Social Studies (country - Austria and its ruling leaders, time period information, culture, cooking)
Mathematics (connections to reading rhythmic note values and time signatures)
Links to other Mozart and music sites
Music! (Mozart's life and music, other Austrian composers, Classical Music, styles of music, music theory, instruments and other tone colors,)
Mozart Boardgame to print and play!! - Christmas Music!
- Tons of links to Christmas music resources along with other curricula areas: math, science, social studies, art, language arts, Bible, and many fun activities!
More Music Theory
Great Places to Purchase Sheet Music
Are these helpful to you? I hope so ~ Let me know what you think.
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Joyful Songs Lensography
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Hello world ~ I'm very glad to meet you! Writing lenses here on Squidoo has been so much fun for me. I truly am enjoying writing and reading the wide range of lens topics throughout Squidoo. I am a performing musician and teacher who feels very p...
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Music and Music Education are subjects that are dear to me, therefore I enjoy writing about them! Find here a collection of music articles, lesson plans, and units that I have written, plus links and other resources for music education. If you have a...
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Joyful Songs Resources
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Lesson Books ~ Music Theory ~ Repertoire ~ Fun Stuff! Here are sheet music and other materials which have been beneficial to my students for almost 20 years of teaching. I've listed books that I recommend, ones that are frequent audition pieces for d...
Lensmaster JoyfulPamela has been a member since May 31 2009, has rated 916 lenses, favorited 654, and has created 65 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Valentine's Day Books for Children". See all my lenses
Sheet Music Online
If you found the "Reading Music" page helpful and enjoyed it, you may also like this one about free and low cost sheet music sources. :D I hope it is beneficial to you.-
Sheet Music Sources
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Do you love to play new music you've heard or seen the sheet music for? I know I do! It's really exciting to play a fresh piece, especially when it is something you have enjoyed listening to and want to play yourself. Some people like to play by ear,...
Have fun in your music studies and practice, practice, practice!
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Reply
- ajgodinho ajgodinho Feb 6, 2010 @ 2:35 am
- Awesome resource for music lovers - I will be coming back to this one for sure. 5*s, fav and joined your fan club. Excellent job!
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Reply
- learn2playguitarfast learn2playguitarfast Jan 29, 2010 @ 12:41 pm
- Lots of great information in this lens, thank you. I just rated you 5 stars :o). Many links, especially the sheet music sources I didn't know about. Thanks again for sharing a wealth of information about learning to play guitar. If you have some good free online sources how kids can learn guitar, I would appreciate the posting.
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Reply
- LaraineRose LaraineRose Jan 29, 2010 @ 4:41 am
- I wrote and when I went to post it. BLAM - I guess my time was up. Anyway, I'm back to thank you for writing this lens and to give my token 5*s and fav.
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Reply
- LaraineRose LaraineRose Jan 29, 2010 @ 4:37 am
- My mum was a music teacher too. Mum taught 3 brothers ahead of me how to read music. It was agony for them.. and her too. After they tried to play the tune and their lesson was over I went to the piano and played it by ear. Result.. No lesson for me. I so much wanted lessons but mum didn't see the necessity. I still play the piano but have a slight handicap now because of an accident to my right hand. I miss the family musical get-togethers we used to have when all the family were living. This is a wonderful resource. Thank you for posting it. 5*s and fav.
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Reply
- Jhoff Jhoff Jan 25, 2010 @ 2:03 am
- Great lens. Great information.
5/5* and lensrolled.
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Some of My Favorite "Featured Lenses"
Thank you, Rhonda!
Lensmaster Pukeko has been a very sweet, supportive friend to me here at Squidoo ever since I met her at "Homeschool Lounge"! She has some of the coolest pages for educational information and learning (plus many other topics), so I wanted to share some of her excellent work!She was kind enough to add this webpage and a few others of mine to "Free Homeschool Resources - Fun and Educational!". It is a great page full of fantastic links that are useful to all educators and students, not just homeschoolers. It is a resource I search frequently. She greatly surprised me to choose "Reading Music" as her "Link of the Month for January 2010", and featured it on "By Kids 4 Kids - A Group of Squidoo Websites for Kids".
Rhonda the "Squid Angel" has also honored me by giving a "Squid Angel Blessing" on this and other pages I have written. I don't know how to say "thank you" enough to this wonderful lady from New Zealand. I'm listing other pages of hers that I have really enjoyed reading. I think you will, too! Check them out!!
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Free Homeschool Resources - Fun and Educational!
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By Kids 4 Kids - A Group of Squidoo Websites for Kids
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Rhonda Albom (aka Pukeko) Lensography
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I seem to be scattered all around the internet these days. Hopefully this page will help to pull it all together. This is my lensography - listing of all the places you can find me, Rhonda Albom, on the web. As I get ready to apply to become a Squid...
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Imagine the clear, crisp, calm, cool, classic sounds of the clarinet! Such a beautiful instrument to hear, and fun woodwind to play! Visit here to find a constantly growing collection of clarinet resources for researching, learning, listening, playin...
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