STANDARD MUSIC NOTATION
Welcome to the
standard music notation tutorial. This set of lessons is designed for anyone interested in learning the basics of music notation. Whether you just want to know how the notation system works at a basic level, or want to go on to develop advanced sight reading skills to a professional level, this is a good place to start. You can play
most of the reading exercises here by using a pick, or
all of them by playing fingerstyle.
Although standard music notation is employed by countless musicians playing a vast range of instruments, it's a skill that most guitarists don’t learn. Apart from classical guitar, in which standard notation is considered essential, all other styles are often learned without using standard notation.
One reason is that certain guitar styles, such as strumming or arpeggio accompaniment styles, can easily be played by following simple chord notation, and for more complex arrangements, most guitarists prefer to use guitar tablature instead (because it’s easier to learn), or their memory, or use their other musical skills to improvise music on the spot.
Standard notation, then, isn’t seen as an essential skill for many guitarists (many of the world’s greatest guitarists don’t read notation), but almost everyone agrees that it’s an extremely useful skill that can broaden your musical horizons enormously, such as:
1. More complete information is present, which enables you to read and play in real time a piece of music that you’ve never heard before. Of course, that depends on the level of reading fluency you’ve attained. The more you practise, the more successfully you can develop your ‘sight reading’ ability. Even if you don’t want to invest the time required to develop advanced sight reading ability, just knowing the system enables you to work out the music note by note – exactly.
2. Unlike tab, music notation isn’t restricted to the guitar. You can understand music notation written for any of the vast range of instruments that use it, and transcribe it to guitar.
3. Music that you’ve composed or arranged can be shared with other musicians, as most instrumentalists, unlike most guitarists, read standard notation.
4. Notation lets you know what’s going on musically. If you have a reasonable knowledge of music theory, you can see what the key is, and whether it’s changing to a new key, which offers more options for improvisation.
Even if you don’t practise it to the level where you can sight read and play music while seeing some sheet music for the first time, you can still understand how it works and use it to work out what’s going on, note by note. Whichever level you take it to, having this skill will certainly open up many new directions in which you can advance, not only as a guitarist, but as a musician.
Lesson 1 - The music staff
Lesson 2 - First string notes E, F & G + timing (4/4 time signature)
Lesson 3 - Second string notes B, C & D + 3/4 & 2/4 time signatures
Lesson 4 - Third string notes G & A + repeat signs
Lesson 5 - Eighth notes
Lesson 6 - Dotted notes + Fourth string notes D, E & F
Lesson 7 - Fifth string notes A, B & C + rests and pick up notes
Lesson 8 - Sixth string notes E, F & G
Lesson 9 - Sharps, flats and naturals
Lesson 10 - Ties, slurs + three eight time
Lesson 11 - Chords
Lesson 12 - Key signatures
Lesson 13 - The second position, key of 2 sharps
Lesson 14 - Shorter note lengths, triplets and staccato
Lesson 15 - Major scales E to Eb in higher positions (I - X)
NOTATION PITCH TRAINER - Flash tool
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