Music Notation

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons - Lesson 1
Numbering Your Fingers

Hold both of your hands straight out in front of you with your palms facing away.
Since we only have 1 thumb, we shall name it Number 1.
The finger beside each thumb is Number 2.
The next finger, your middle finger, is Number 3.
The next finger is Number 4.
Your last finger, the pinky, is Number 5.
Once you realize that proper fingering is one of the most important
elements of playing keyboards, you will be well on your way to a
good beginning!
Below is a picture of the proper finger numbers!
Practice wiggling the fingers and thumbs and naming the correct matching number.
Try playing some keys on your keyboard naming the finger numbers as you play each key.
Left Hand Right Hand
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Naming The White Keys
Every keyboard has 2 types of keys. They are:
1. shorter black keys
2. longer white keys
The reason for this is if all the keys were the same size and color, we would have a difficult time
telling which key was which!
Take a look at the picture of the keyboard below. Notice that the shorter black keys are grouped
into sets of 2's and 3's.
Sometimes these are called twins and triplets.
The white key immediately to the left of any set of twins, is always named "C".
The musical language uses only the first 7 letters of the alphabet!
A - B - C - D - E - F - G
We already know where "C" is. The white key immediately to the right of all C's is named "D".
Can you fill in the rest of the names of the white keys above?
Remember: When you get to the G, you start over again at A. H,

I, J K etc. are not notes in the musical language!
Practice playing the keys on your keyboard while you say the letter names of the white keys out
loud!
2000 My Sheet Music

Finding "Middle C"
Middle C is the most important key in music because it is the key from which all other notes are
referenced.
Middle C on the piano is the C key that is the closest to the middle!
All keyboards have a Middle C but not always in the same position due to the different number of
keys available on keyboards. There are two main sizes of keyboards.
49 notes and 61 notes.
Count all the black and white keys on your keyboard and then find
Middle C on your keyboard from looking at the 2 keyboards below!
If your keyboard has different number of keys, use the C white key that is the closest to the
middle to be "Middle C".
2000 My Sheet Music

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The Musical Staff
The musical staff is made up of 5 lines and 4 spaces.
Each line and space has a represents a white key
Learn the saying - Every Good Boy Deserves Fun and remember that the
spaces spell FACE and you will always know the names of the lines and
spaces.
2000 My Sheet Music

The Musical Note
In music we have to have a way of showing which key we want played on your keyboard. This
why we have musical notes.
Below is a picture of a note on a staff.
This note represents the E key on your keyboard because it is intersected by the E line of the
musical staff.
Notice that the E is the one just above Middle C.
"Try playing the following notes on your keyboard or piano while saying
the notes out loud as you play!"
The Treble Clef
Here is a picture of the treble clef.
A treble clef is usually positioned at the very beginning of the musical staff.
When you see a treble clef, it means that any notes on, above or below the staff are to be played
with your right hand. We then call this musical staff the "treble staff".
"Try playing the following notes on your keyboard or piano while saying
the notes out loud as you play! Remember that you play these notes
with your right hand because of the 'treble clef'."

2000 My Sheet Music

"Middle C" On The Staff
Study the picture below and notice how middle c is located below the staff!
Study the picture below and notice how middle c is located below the staff!
When we want to show Middle C, we simply draw a little line to indicate that we continue down
one space and line to represent C!
"Below is the picture of how Middle C looks on the treble staff. Play
these notes on your keyboard and say the letter name of the notes out
loud as you play!"


2000 My Sheet Music

Leger Lines
Study the picture below and notice how we show other additional note names.
We can extend the lines and spaces above and below the regular five line staff in order to indicate
notes that are higher or lower on the keyboard.
Where we need a line, we simply draw a small one, as in the case of middle c.
These extra lines are called leger lines.
"Below is the picture of how "leger lines" look on the treble staff. Play
these notes on your keyboard and say the letter name of the notes out
loud as you play!"
2000 My Sheet Music

Quarter Notes And Half Notes
In the musical language, we also must have a way of telling you "how long" to hold down each
note!
Therefore, different types of notes were created to represent different time values.
The first type we are going to learn about is called the "quarter note".
Below is a picture of a quarter note.
First, count our loud, 1 - 2 - 3 - 4, in a nice even temp 3 times.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
Next, we want you to play the E above Middle C on your keyboard each time you say a number.
Below is how it would look on the musical staff.
Notice that each note gets 1 out of the 4 beats, therefore it is called a 1/4 (quarter note).
"Below is the picture of how "quarter notes" look on the treble staff. Play
these notes on your keyboard and count out loud as you play!"

2000 My Sheet Music

Bar Lines And Measures
To make it easier for us to do our counting, we now introduce "bar lines".
Below is a picture of 4 bar lines on a staff.
Bar lines divide the musical staff into equal "measures" of time.
Below is a song Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with quarter notes, half notes and
the bar lines added.
Notice that each bar line comes after 4 counts. (beats)
In this song, we therefore have 4 beats per measure.
If we count all the measures, we find we have a total of 12.
All music is usually divided into equal "measures" of time.
We also have a bar line at the beginning and end of each staff.

"Below is the picture of how "bar lines" look on the treble staff. Notice
how they divide the music into equal "measures" of time. Play these
notes on your keyboard and count out loud as you play!"
2000 My Sheet Music

Double Bar Lines And Repeat Signs
Below is an example of a double bar line.
A double bar line will occur at the "end" of a song and tells us that the song is finished at the end
of that measure.
Below is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with the double bar line added
to indicate the end of the song.
Below is an example of a repeat sign.
When you see a repeat sign, it means that you repeat the song from the very beginning and end
the second time through, at the repeat sign, if there is no other double bar line.
Below is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with a repeat sign at the end. Notice that the song plays
though twice!
Below is an example of a beginning repeat sign.
When you see a 2 repeat signs, a beginning and an ending repeat sign, it means that you repeat
the measures in between these 2 signs and end the second time through if there is no other
double bar line.
Below is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with a repeat sign at the end and a beginning repeat sign.
Notice that only the measures between the repeat signs are repeated!
2000 My Sheet Music
Time Signatures
When we want to know how many beats are in each measure of a particular song, we just look at
the time signature. Take a look at the time signature below.
4
4
The time signature is always shown as 2 numbers, one on top of each other, and is usually at the
beginning of the first measure of a song.
The top number tells you how many beats are in each measure, in this case 4.
Do not be concerned with the bottom number yet.
We call this time signature by the first number then the second - in this case 4/4 (four-four)
Below is an example of a song with a 4/4 time signature.
2000 My Sheet Music

Dotted Half Notes
The next type of note we are going to learn is called a dotted half note.
Here is a picture of a dotted half note.
The dot after the note means you increase the value of the note by one half.
Therefore a dotted half note receives 3 beats.
You will quite often see a dotted half note in a song where the time signature is 3/4.
Remember, a 3/4 time signature means 3 beats per measure and is usually a waltz.
2000 My Sheet Music
Whole Notes
The next type of note we are going to learn is called a whole note.
Here is a picture of a whole note.
A whole note receives a value of 4 beats or the same as 2 half notes.
Now let's play a favorite Christmas song that uses quarter notes, half notes and whole notes!
2000 My Sheet Music
Rests
In many pieces of music there are places where you do not want your right hand to play any
notes - you want your hand to actually rest. We have symbols called "rests" that represent the
notes and their values.
Here is a picture of a whole note, half note and quarter note with their corresponding rests.
The whole note rest is a little black rectangle that hangs from the line.
The half note rest is a little black rectangle that sits on the line.
The quarter note rest is a little squiggly symbol that usually intersects the middle line.
Now let's play "O When The Saints" and watch how this song uses all 3 of the rests!
Pick-up Notes
Quite often, the beginning of the song will start with what is called an incomplete measure.
An incomplete measure where there are not enough notes or rests in the measure to equal the
top number in the time signature.
Whatever number of beats are missing in the first measure will be "picked-up" usually at the end
of the song in the last measure - which will also be an incomplete measure.
Therefore, the number of beats in the first measure plus
the number of beats in the last measure will equal 1 complete measure.
Did you notice that in the last song we played, "O When The Saints", we
had an incomplete measure at the beginning of the song?
It actually had only 3 beats in the first measure and it should have had
4!
Now let's play "O When The Saints" and look how we changed the last measure to count correctly!
The first measure has 3 beats and the last measure has 1 beat, therefore the two measures
added together equals 4 beats which is a complete measure!
2000 My Sheet Music

A Tie
In the musical language we sometimes want to hold notes for longer than a measure or for
different time periods.
We can actually place a curved line between two notes which "ties" the notes together and means
that we hold down that note for the total of all the beats of each note.
Below is an example of 2 "G" notes that are tied and 2 middle "C" notes that are tied.
Notes can be tied that are the same name but they don't have to be the same type of note.
Below is an example of a quarter note and half note that are tied. You can see that the note is
held for a total of (half note) 2 plus (quarter note) 1 which is equal to 3 beats. Also see how ties
can be joined across measures - they don't have to be always in the same complete measure.
2000 My Sheet Music
Sharp Signs
Before we learn about a sharp let's learn about half-steps.
When you are on the keyboard and play a key, and then you go to the very next note up the
keyboard, whether it is white or black, you are said to be moving up a half-step.
If you go to the very next key down, white or black, you are said to be going down a half-step.
Look at the example below and see how B to C is a half-step because the very next note up, white
or black from B, is C.
If we start on C and move a half-step up it is actually the black note immediately right of C.
We have to have a name for this note and that is where sharps are used.
Here is a picture of a sharp sign.
A sharp sign is always immediately left of the note.
C sharp
When you see this sign it means that the note immediately right of this sign is to be played one
half-step up.
The easiest way to remember this is to think that when you sit on a sharp tack, you go straight up
- and so do "sharps".
Therefore the key below is called C sharp.
Below is a song that shows a sharp sign - (F Sharp)
"Below is the picture of how a "sharp" sign looks on the treble staff.
Notice how they only affect the notes in the measure where they occur."
2000 My Sheet Music

Flat Signs
Remember that we said if you go to the very next key down, white or black, you are said to be
going down a half-step.
Look at the example below and see how C to B is a half-step because the very next note down,
white or black from C, is B.
If we start on B and move a half-step down it is actually the black note immediately left of B.
We have to have a name for this note and that is where flats are used.
Here is a picture of a flat sign.
A flat sign is always immediately left of the note.
B flat
When you see this sign it means that the note immediately right of this sign is to be played one
half-step down.
The easiest way to remember this is to think that when you have a "flat" tire, the tire goes down
and so do "flats".
Therefore the key below is called B flat.
Below is a song that shows a flat sign - (B flat)
"Below is the picture of how a "flat" sign look on the treble staff. Notice
how they only affect the notes in the measure where they occur."
2000 My Sheet Music

Natural Signs
Here is a picture of a natural sign.
When you see a natural sign, it cancels out the previous accidental (flat or sharp) within the same
measure.
A flat or sharp sign (sometimes called accidentals) affects all the notes on its own line or space for
one measure only. We use a natural sign when we want to return a note to its original key before
the end of the measure.
""Below is the picture of how a "natural" sign looks on the treble staff.
Notice how they only affect the notes in the measure where they occur.
2000 My Sheet Music
One-Fingered Chords
Now that you have an understanding of playing music with you right hand, it is now time to learn
to play with both hands together!
In keyboard music your right hand plays the melody and your left hand plays the chord.
A chord is when three or more notes are played together at exactly the
same time.
Below is an example.
All 3 notes are played together with your left hand.
Finger number 5 plays C, number 3 plays E and your thumb plays G.
It takes time to learn how to play the chords this way, so most keyboards have a feature for
beginners called:
ONE-FINGERED CHORDS
When you have this feature turned on (check in your owner's manual) it usually splits the
keyboard so the lower portion of the keyboard becomes the automatic one-fingered chord section.
To play a chord, which would normally take 3 or more fingers, simply push the single key in the
automatic section.
Example - if you wanted to play a C chord, simply push the single C key in the automatic section!
The way we show which chord to play in music, is to show the chord name ABOVE the musical
staff.
Take a look at the first line of "The Can-Can"
When you see a new chord, it is directly over a melody note. These keys should be played at
exactly the same time.
Now let's take a look at "The Can Can" played live!
""Below is the picture of how "chords" look on the treble staff. Notice
how they are located above the treble staff.

2000 My Sheet Music

Eighth Notes
Let's review the note types we have learned so far.
Now let's go one step further by introducing the next note in the musical language
The Eighth Note!
An eighth note has a similar appearance to the quarter note except for one important difference -
the eight note has a tail.
Just like other notes the tail will go up or down depending on where it situated on the staff!
Let's take another look at the value of the note we have learnt so far.
Notice that an eighth note receives half of a beat!
Below is an example of how we count using eighth notes.
Play along with your keyboard counting out loud in a nice even tempo.
When 2 or more eighth notes are in the same measure, you will often see them joined by a single
line from stem to stem.
This makes the music much neater and easier to read!

Key Signatures
Rember how we have shown flats, sharps and natural signs as "accidentals"? That is, we write the
sign right beside the note?
Now, rather than having to show an accidental all the time beside each note, we can put the sign
at the beginning of each staff
If we put a "falt sign" on the B line at the beginning of the staff, itmeans that ALL B notes are to
be played as B flat.
Below is an example.
When you see one or more flat or sharp signs at the beginning of the the musical staff, this is
called a Key Signature.
The key signature will always be shown before the time signature.
Take a look at the key signatures below.
All key signatures are not just randomly placed at the beginning of the staff.
There is a pattern and method to their construction and there only so many key signatures
available.
It is not necessary at this time to try and understand the structure but I would like you to study
the table of key signatures below.
It is important to be aware that there are different key signatures and what they mean!
Dotted Quarter Notes
We are now going to learn another new note called a
DOTTED QUARTER NOTE
Below is a picture of a dotted quarter note.
q.
The dot after the note means you increase the value by one-half, just like the dotted half note!
Therefore, a dotted quarter note receives 1 and 1/2 beats.
Try the exercise below that uses dotted quarter notes.
Remember that you are learning something new so take it slowly, and do your counting evenly!
Fingered Chording
Up until now, we have been using Single-Fingered Chording to create our accompaniment.
Now it's time we learn to actually play the chords ourselves by playing 3 or more notes together,
at one time, with our left hand.
The reason for this is that we are getting better and can now start to play the chords the same
way we would on a piano!
Also, we can learn to play many more "types" of chords other than Major, Minor, Sevenths and
Minor Sevenths.
Turn your automatic chord section on, but this time set-it up so it will allow you to play Fingered
Chords. Please check your owner's manual if you are not sure how to turn on your Fingered Chord
Section.
Let's start with the first 3 chords we studied - C, F and G!
C Chord
F Chord
G Chord
The C, F and G chords are played in the Root Position.
Root Position means that the lowest note on the chord has the same letter name as the chord
itself.
C Major Chord - C is the lowest note C-E-G so it is in root position.
F Major Chord - F is the lowest note F-A-C so it is in root position.
G Major Chord - G is the lowest note G-B-D so it is in root position.
If we take the lowest note on the chord and simply move it up one octave, we create what we call
a Chord Inversion.
It is still called a C Major chord, but it is an inversion of the root position.
Look at the examples of the two possible inversions of the C Major chord below.
C Chord - Root Position
C Chord - 1st Inversion
C Chord - 2nd Inversion
Remember: It's Ok to play an inversion of a chord as long as all notes of the chord fall within the
automatic range of the keyboard.
The reason we would play an inversion is to keep your hand movement to a minimum or because
it creates a different sound when inverted!
Sixteenth Notes
Let's review again the types of notes we have studied so far.
Now let's introduce the next note in the musical language
the Sixteenth Note!
A sixteenth note appears to be almost the same as an eighth note, except the sixteenth note has
2 tails that go down from the right or up from the left depending on where it is situated on the
staff.
Let's review the time values of the notes.
Notice that a sixteenth note receives a quarter of a beat.
Below is an example of how we count using sixteenth notes.
Play along on your keyboard, counting out loud, in a nice even tempo.
When 2 or more sixteenth notes are in the same measure, you will often see them joined by a
double bar line from stem to stem.
This makes the music appear much neater and helps you in your counting.

Dotted Eighth Notes
The next note we are going to learn is called the
Dotted Eighth Note.
e.
The dot after the note means you increase the value of the note by one-half just like in the dotted
half note.
Therefore, a dotted eighth note receives 1/2 + 1/4 = 3/4 of a beat.
Let's try a song that uses dotted eighth notes.
Remember again that you are learning something new so play the song slowly at first and do your
counting evenly!

Triplets
Triplets are when you play 3 notes in the same amount of time it would take you to play 2 notes.
Look at the example below.
A "triplet" will usually have a 3 under or over the notes that are to be played as triplets.
They may or may not have brackets as shown below.
Now let's play a song that uses sixteenth notes, dotted eighth notes and triplets!


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My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons - Lesson 1

Numbering Your Fingers

Remember: When you get to the G, you start over again at A. H,

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

Each line and space has a represents a white key

2000 My Sheet Music

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

2000 My Sheet Music

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

My Sheet Music Free Music Lessons

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