Dotted notes in music.

Some things in music that should be easy just aren’t. If you’re having trouble wrapping your brain about some of the concepts that you think should be easy, don’t beat yourself up. Learning to read music isn’t any different than learning a new language. The world accepts the fact that learning Spanish, French, or Latin are difficult tasks but sometimes music doesn’t get the same credit. You’ve come this far and while there may be a little bit of distance yet to travel, be patient.

Today we’re going to help you with one of those concepts that many people have a tough time understanding: The dot! That little dot can cause so much trouble but once we’re done with it, you’re going to have very little trouble reading right through it.

The textbook definition of the dot is that when a dot is added to a note, it adds half of the notes value. We know…that really doesn’t help! To help us, we have to do a little math.

Remember that in meters like 4/4, A whole note gets 4 beats, a half note gets 2 beats, a quarter note gets 1 beat, and an eighth note gets ½ of a beat.

Now, let’s say that you are looking at a dotted half note. Let’s figure out how many total beats this note has. Without the dot, we know that the half note has 2 beats by itself. Remember that the dot adds half the value of the original note. Our half note has two beats so the dot will add half of that which is one beat. When we add the 2 beats of the original note with the 1 beat that the dot added, we have 3 total beats.

Clear as mud? Let’s look at a few:

How many beats are there in a dotted whole note? The whole note is 4 beats, the dot adds half of the 4 which is 2. 4+2=6 beats
How about a dotted quarter note? A quarter note has one beat, the dot adds half of the one beat which is ½ so a dotted quarter note has 1 ½ beats. Make sense?

Who came up with this confusing dot thing, anyway? The truth is that once you get the hang of the dot, it’s a lot easier to read than the alternatives that music publishers would have to use. When we write music we try our best to use the least amount of symbols as possible. If we can write something with a note and dot, that’s easier to read than writing multiple notes tied together.

If that doesn’t make you feel better about these dots, then just trust us. Once you get the hang of these dots, you’ll see how easy to read they are. Spend some time figuring out how to count dotted rhythms. You’ll be a pro in no time!

Reading music from the printed sheet music involves several inter-related areas including melody, harmony, and rhythm. Within those areas are key signatures, leger lines, time values, time signatures, note values, chord structures and progressions, rhythm patterns and several other related things such as dynamics, touch, sight-reading and so on. Watch this very short video to get a feel of the overall process of reading music:

For a course on music reading for beginners, please go to How To Read Music Fast!

Most people play the piano by reading music and playing what is on the written sheet music, and that’s fine. Others play by reading only the melody of the song, but also by using the chord symbols that appear above the written music.

Which should you do? I say BOTH. There are benefits to knowing how to do both, so don’t sacrifice one for the other. Why limit yourself to just one way? So keep learning to read music — the better you can read, the better off you will be in many situations. But also learn all you can about music theory and chords, as that will enable you to create a much bigger sound on the piano than you would get from just reading the written sheet music.

For more information on the subject, click on How To Play More Notes Without Reading More Notes.

Learning to read music is a process which involves learning to read the melody of a song as well as all the harmonic support (chords and intervals) and the rhythmic elements such as note values, time signatures, rest values, rhythm patterns and so on.
If you want a downloadable course on How To Read Music, please click on http://www.readmusicfast.com/

 Music is written in notation that includes a staff  (five horizontal lines), ledger lines, time and key signatures, and other symbols that tell what notes are to be played and how long they are to be played. In addition to notes, rests of varying lengths are used. They are represented by certain symbols, and appear in measures when needed. It’s very common to have both notes and rests in a single measure. Measures and bar lines (the vertical lines separating and defining a measure) give written music its structure.
Placement of notes occur on the staff of five lines and the four spaces between them. Notes that occur above or below the staff are marked with ledger lines. It’s this placement that determines the note’s name (pitch). For example, the note on the top line of the staff (treble clef) is the note F. The note in the second space of the staff is the note A. Notes of three or more played together are called chords and they appear as notes “stacked” on top of each other.
The notes used in modern notation are either “natural,” “sharp,” and “flat.” These words refer to the pitch of a note. For example, the notes Db (flat), D, and D # (sharp) are different notes (tones) from each other.  On piano, for example, the three notes are played in adjacent keys, left to right.
A musician must not only know how to play the notes displayed (such as the pressing the corresponding keys on a piano, or pressing the proper valves on a trumpet), but how long (duration) the note is to be played. Notes are measured in note values (length of time) using a system of ovals, dots, stems, and flags.
The time signature of a piece of music appears at the beginning of each line. Common time signatures include 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, and 6/8. The first, or top number, represents beats per measure. The second, or  bottom number, tells the musician what kind of note gets one beat. In other words, 3/4 time means there are three beats to a measure and a quarter note receives one beat. 6/8 time means there are six beats per measure and an eighth note receives one beat.
A number of different clefs are used to indicate how the music should be read. These include the G or treble clef, the C or alto clef, and the F or bass clef. These clefs tell the musician on which lines, spaces, or ledger lines the notes will appear. For example, in the treble clef, the first line of the staff is the note C. In the bass clef, the note on the first line is G. Most piano music is written for both clefs with the left hand playing (in general) the notes of the bass clef and the right hand playing the notes of the treble clef.
Music’s rhythm and tempo are determined by beats per minute (bpm) and the use of various words and phrases that define the style of the music. Other terms such as pianissimo and forte tell the musician how loudly or softly to play a note or passage. Also, there are markings that direct the musician to repeat a section, go back to the beginning of the piece, or to jump ahead to a certain point in the composition.

Aside from the academic study of music theory, which explores the theories surrounding music issues, such as whether or not a piece of music fits into one category or another, music theory is really the nuts and bolts of music. It’s the way that music is composed, and performed. Whether you are thinking about musical harmony, the way a concerto is orchestrated, and even the simple basics of how to read music, then you’re thinking about aspects of musical theory.

The first question that many people just starting out on their music journey often ask is “Do I really need to know this stuff?” The answer depends on what you want to do with your music. There are many successful recording artists who can’t read music never mind distinguish a symphony from a sonata. This implies that you don’t need to have any knowledge of music theory in order to be a successful musician. However musicians who can do this to a great level are few and far between. Even if you are pitch perfect and can compose and play a piece of music entirely from memory, you can’t easily share this music with others unless they have similar skills.

Music theory allows musicians from all backgrounds to come together on a level playing field. Each of them understand the piece of music in front them. They know what key it is to be played in - vital if they want to create harmonies. They know what time it’s in so that they can get the beat right. The composer will have noted on the music manuscript how the piece is to be played - terminology that means slowly, softly, “with gusto” and so on. Those who compose understand the common music forms and by understanding the range of each instrument are able to combine different combinations of instruments playing harmoniously together. They know the instruments to work with for the kind of music they are composing, and can compose both melody and base lines that sound right whether played independently or together.

If you have a good ear for music and know the fundamentals of how your musical instrument works, then you may have no use for music theory. On the other hand, if you want to compose music that you’d like to share with other musicians, if you want to play with other musicians in an orchestra or band, or if you want to be able to play a piece of music that someone else has composed and you haven’t heard played, then some basic understanding of music theory is required.

Imagine that you can look at any music score and instantly be able to sight-read it, which means you could sit down with your instrument and by reading and understanding the notations made by the composer you are able to play that piece of music in the way that the composer intended. With little more than a basic knowledge of music theory, such as being able to read music and understand some simple, common musical terms, you could do that. Even if that’s not a skill you would use often, as a musician, isn’t it a skill you’d like to have?

For a complete course in music theory, please click here: Music Theory Course

Chord symbols (for example, Cmaj7 or G6) are a type of notation used frequently in jazz and other areas of modern music to notate chord progressions and changes. This type of notation differs from that of classical music in that chord symbols don’t show the function of a chord the way the Roman numeral notation does. Chord symbols, for modern music with lots of changes, are much easier to read. They function as a sort of shorthand for change-heavy music and are written with four chord parts in mind: the root, the quality, the extension, and the alterations.

The first part in chord symbols, the root, tells the musician which note is the root of the chord. In an E6 chord, for instance, the E serves as the root. Chord symbols also allow for inverted chords, or chords with a root other than the bass note. These chord symbols express that by showing the bass note with a diagonal slash under the original symbol.

Quality, the second part in chord symbols, denotes whether the chord is major, minor, diminished, or augmented. In a Cmaj7, the maj tells us that the C chord is major. The abbreviations for this area in chord symbols are maj, min, dim, and aug, respectively.

The extension in chord symbols, written after the quality, shows the musician if the chord differs from a triad (a third chord), such as an eleventh or seventh. This part of chord symbols is not always shown; if there is no indication of an extension, the musician is to assume that the chord is a triad.

The last part in chord symbols, the alteration, is usually but not always expressed. Think of this part as the “notes” section in chord symbols; it gives the musician any specific (and sometimes irregular) instructions for playing the chord and is always written in parentheses after the extension (or the quality, if no extension exists). For instance, (no fifth) would tell the musician that the chord is to be played with the fifth tone left out. Sus – short for “suspension”, would mean to play the 4th scale note instead of the 3rd. A minus sign would mean to lower (flat) a chord tone, such as C-9 which would mean to flat the 9th of the chord. Conversely, a plus sign would mean to raise (sharp) a particular chord tone.

Reading music using chord symbols allows a person to use written music as a map, rather than a note-for-note approach. By just reading the melody note and the chord symbols, musicians can improvise to their hearts content and create their own sounds on the keyboard.

The best of all worlds, however, is to be able to read music as it is written in a sheet music score, but also be able to read the chord symbols. Then the musician is free to choose which is best – the written part, or an improvised part. The sky is the limit for musicians who can do both.

 Chord symbols & reading the melody in sheet music

Sight reading is the act of reading and playing a piece of music before having ever seen it: on sight. This technique is an important one for musicians to learn. Being skilled in sight reading makes reading a piece of music easier; the musician doesn’t have to labor over every note and re-teach themselves the common patterns. Sight reading, after a decent amount of practice, becomes like second nature.

A solid knowledge of music theory is absolutely crucial to a musician who wants to become proficient in sight reading. Besides acting as the basis for understanding the notes, a music theory education provides the ability to see patterns within the piece of music, a large part of the sight reading puzzle. Sight reading, after all, doesn’t require the musician to read every single note. Most musicians rarely see the entire piece of music, but rather the patterns that emerge from it. They understand notes and how they function in relation to each other and are therefore able to deduce most of the chords and changes — all from just glancing at the basic structure of the piece.

For example, musicians who know music theory will first determine the key of the song from the key signature, which in turn gives them strong hints about which chords will probably be used most in the song. This knowledge alone enables the sight reader to be mentally prepared when those chords occur, and to be alert for chords which are unexpected.

They will also be aware of intervals such as 3rd and 6ths and 7ths, and they will look for the form of the song - ABA, AABA, ABACA, or whatever. They will be aware of the probably rhythm patterns based on the time signture, and they will quickly scan the score for repeats, tempo signs, volume changes, and so on.

In fact, most sight reading mistakes typically happen when a piece of music takes an unexpected turn, deviates from the common pattern. These mistakes, however, are few and far between with those proficient in sight reading. An experienced sight reader will have learned to not only see patterns but also to read ahead in a piece of music while they are playing it. Looking several bars ahead to catch anything tricky or unexpected is often done while holding a sustain or resting.

Sight reading plays a large role in music education, and students are frequently tested on their ability to do it well. Some sight reading exams will allow the student a few minutes to look over the piece and prepare; he or she will be able to make notes, mark up tricky time signatures or changes. Tempo is rarely a consideration in these sight reading exams as playing the piece well is far more important than playing the piece up to speed.

Advanced sight reading exams, however, aren’t quite as forgiving. These exams give the student minimal, if any, time to prepare, and tempo is absolutely considered into the final grade. Advanced sight reading exams prepare a student for work as a studio musician, a career where near-perfect sight reading is a must. The majority of studio musicians record a piece of music after only seeing it once — sometimes not at all. A flawed skill in sight reading will only prove to be a hindrance to the working musician; it is for that reason considered one of the most important parts of a music theory education.

This does not mean, of course, that musicians can’t reach the top rungs without good sight-reading skills. After all, many top jazz pianists don’t read music at all, but are gifted with incredible ears and improvisational skills. But for most of us “normal” musicians (like me) it is a helpful skill to develop to the best of our ability. Even if we never get great at it, we can always get better!