Music Intervals

Music intervals determine the space between two notes. There are two types of them: melodic and harmonic.

• You talk about melodic intervals if you play notes after each other.
• You talk about harmonic intervals if you play notes together.
• If you talk about spaces among three or more notes, it's called a chord.

Semitones

If you play a key on a piano, then the key right next to it, you've got a semitone. There is a semitone between each key on the keyboard. For example, there is a semitone between F and F# and also E and F (because there is no black key between them). You can also go "down" and take E and E♭ - they are also a semitone away from each other.

Diatonic and Chromatic Semitones

• You call a semitone diatonic when the two notes are spelled with different letter names. Going back to our previous example: E and F or D and E♭.

• You call a semitone chromatic when the two notes have the same letter name. For example: F and F#.

Whole Tones

Whole tones mean music intervals that consist of two semitones. When you write sheet music, you must write whole tones on adjacent lines and spaces. And if you need to raise one of them by a semitone (like in case of E and F where there is only a semitone difference), you just write a sharp (#) of flat (♭) symbol next to the note to make it a whole tone. Another name for the distance of whole tone is major 2nd.

Tone-Plus-Semitones

A tone-plus-semitone is a musical interval that means a three-semitone distance. You also have to write the notes on adjacent lines and spaces. Another name for the distance of tone-plus-semitone is augmented 2nd.

Unisons, Fourths, Fifths, Octaves

To find out the size and type of a music interval, i.e. an interval between two notes, start counting from the bottom note (the bottom note is 1) and count each line and space. You'll get a number like "a 5th" (if the above note is nr. 5). At this point, you have one more thing to do, decide the type of the interval:

• Perfect
• Diminished
• Augmented

If the top notes in the interval is in the major scale of the bottom note, we talk about a perfect interval.

If interval is smaller than in the previous case, we talk about a diminished interval.

If interval is bigger than a perfect interval, we talk about an augmented interval.

We could also say, that a diminished interval is a semitone smaller than a perfect one, and an augmented interval is a semitone larger than the perfect one.

Seconds, Thirds, Sixths, Sevenths

If you'd like to find out the interval of two notes, again, your first task is to count from the bottom note (the bottom note being "1") to the top note. Count each line and space.

Their quality can be:

• Major
• Minor
• Augmented
• Diminished

Now, just like earlier, decide if the top note is in the major scale of the bottom note. If it is, you have a major interval.

A minor interval is a semitone smaller than a major one.

If an interval is a semitone larger than a major interval, it's augmented.

If and interval is a semitone smaller than a minor interval, it's diminished.

Sometimes you need to use a double sharp or double flat to write augmented or diminished intervals.

Compound Intervals

Compound intervals are larger than an octave: ninth, tenth, eleventh...

Inverting Intervals
Yes, you can even introvert intervals. It simply means that the bottom note goes to the top or vice versa.
But what interval will you get than? There is a very simple rule for that: all music intervals and their inversions add up to 9. For example:

• Fifths invert to fourths (5+4=9)
• Octaves invert to unisons (8+1=9)
also
• Perfect intervals invert to perfect
• Major intervals invert to minor
• Diminished intervals invert to augmented

These rules work the other way around, too.

More Music Theory

Music Theory Online

Why should you learn some music theory online? Being familiar with what's behind the music isn't absolutely essential for songwriting. However, if you have no idea about music theory, it really makes your job a lot more difficult than it should be. So do yourself a favor and start familiarizing yourself with it. And these days it's easier than ever. You can find plenty of books and other resources on this topic where the information is incredibly deep, well-organized and understandable. Or you can learn music theory online, right here and now. This way, you can save years of music college education by reading these "music theory online" pages here.

✓ The most basic thing you should know is how to get around the mighty musical staff. What's treble clef? What's bass clef? How do you find Middle C on the staff and the keyboard?

✓ Once you know which note is where on the musical staff, the next step is to learn the value of different notes. There are a couple of kinds of note lengths: whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes and rests.

✓ To make mastering music theory easier, I suggest that you learn the keyboard notes. It's enough if you know where C is on the keyboard and it couldn't be simpler from there. If you know which note is which key, you'll be able to memorize the structure of music much faster than without.

✓ Trying to read all those different notes after each other would be an exhausting task without musical bars. Measures and musical bars are the devices that divide music into smaller pieces so that you can read it more easily.

✓ Learning how to read music notes is quite important for songwriters. It'll help you understand and write music more easily.

✓ Music intervals are important to know to be able to communicate effectively with other songwriters and have a thorough understanding of music theory.

✓ Music scales are also important to know. They help you decide about the pitch of your songs and stay in tune.

✓ Are you confused about musical modes and musical scales? Why does one choose one musical mode and not the other? You'll find all the answers on this page about musical modes.

✓ Some musicians don't like to or can't read traditional sheet music. Others just prefer a simpler method. Fortunately, the Nashville Number System has been invented. It helps musicians putting music on paper fast and easy. It also gives players much more freedom for improvisation and creativity.

✓ The next step in learning music theory online is reading some information about key signatures. They help you read, play and understand sheet music.

✓ Being familiar with music clefs can help you a lot in reading sheet music. You've probably seen the treble clef and the bass clef - they are the most common ones - but there are cases when an alto, tenor, neutral or some other kind of clef is used.

✓ When you know what key signatures are, it's time to learn about the circle of 5ths. With the help of this little tool you can easily remember the organization of key signatures.

✓ If you want to play the piano a little and would like to use it for songwriting, you should definitely look at a piano chord chart to see what popular songs are made of.

✓ To be able to write amazing songs, you should know what the chords that sound good together are. There are only a few rules and they are easy to remember.

✓ Great music isn't made up of I, IV and V chords only. To make your music express feelings even more intensely, it's worth spending a couple of minutes learning how to do chord substitutions.

✓ And if you have a couple of minutes, you can learn the rules that help you make thousands of chords.

✓ There are also slash chords. They are special chords that you use when there is a bass note that is added to or different from the base note of the chord.

Have fun learning music theory online!

And if you would like even more information on these topics, I recommend the following books:Chordmaster Chord Theory for Keyboard, The Complete Book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences or Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory.

Keyboard Notes

Learning keyboard notes is not absolutely essential for songwriting or even music theory. But it makes both much easier. And learning where notes are on a keyboard takes minutes. So why not memorize them?

If you know the place of only one note on the keyboard, the rest will be obvious.

This is what a keyboard looks like:

You can probably see a pattern here. There are several white keys next to each other and there are pairs and threes of back notes between them.

White Keys

Find a pair of black notes. C is always the white note to the left of the two:

All the notes on the keyboard which are to the left from the pairs of black notes are called C, only the pitch changes. The C's on the left side of the keyboard are lower than the ones on the right.

As you probably know, in music we identify notes by names: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. Since they are in alphabetical order, it couldn't be easier to remember them. It's just that easy on the keyboard too. If you know where C is, you can identify the other notes. To the right of C there is the next white key D, the next white key is E and so on:

If I tell you to play Middle C, which note are you going to play? It's called "Middle C" for a reason, it's the C almost in the middle of the keyboard.

Black Keys

So if C, D, E, F, G, A, B are the names of the white notes, what's left for the black ones?

The shortest interval between two notes is called a semi-tone. Each key on the piano is a semi-tone away from the next. So for example, the black key to the right from C is a C# (C sharp). It means that it's a semi-tone higher than C. Therefore the black keys are called (from left to right): C#, D#, F#, G#, A#.

There is a semi-tone difference between E-F and B-C so there is no black key between them.

You can also approach these keyboard notes from another angle and instead of C# you could call the same black key a D♭ (D flat). It means that it's a semi-tone below D. If you look at a keyboard, you'll realize that C# and D♭ are identical.

If you'd like to master music theory in even more detail, I recommend Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory. It's an awesome self-study course. There are even ear training CDs included. You can practice music theory with music writing and reading exercises and tests. Answers are also included so you can really do it all without the help of a teacher.

If you'd like to learn to play the piano, you've made the first step by learning what keyboard notes are called. The next step is to find a systematic course that will take you from complete beginner to quite an advanced level. The best one I've found is called Learn and Master Piano. Will Barrow (a Grammy-winner pianist) is the instructor and he has a really clear, down-to-earth teaching style. Highly recommended!

More Music Theory 

Note Lengths

Note lengths differ. If they didn't, music would be a very boring series of notes.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to see and compare different note durations. And if you learn these, you'll almost be able to read music. Of course, you'll also need to learn about where notes are in the staff. But if you master these two things, you can read almost any sheet music.

Note Durations

Here is a chart of note lengths:

It's all basic mathematics:

⁃ Two half notes = a whole note.
⁃ Two quarter notes = a half note.
⁃ A half note + two eighth notes + a quarter note = a whole note.

By the way, there are much shorter notes than sixteenth notes but they are not used very often.

Dotted Notes

This is an example for a dotted quarter note:

The dot after a note means that you increase the note by half of its value. It's the same as if you wrote a quarter note + an eighth note. You can make any note dotted and therefore increase its value by half.

Ties

You can also increase note length by adding a tie to it:

A tie means that you have to add up the value of the notes you tie together.

Beams

Sometimes there are several quarter, eighth, sixteenth or even smaller notes next to each other. They would be hard to read. And it would look strange on the staff to write several of them next to each other. To simplify this, you can use beams to connect them inside a bar.

You can connect eighth notes with one line (beam), and sixteenth notes with two:

Direction of Stems

The line coming from the egg/circle part of a note is called a stem. You've probably noticed when looking at sheet music that sometimes the stem points up, sometimes down. How do you decide which direction to go?

• If the note is below the middle line, the stem points up.
• If it's above the middle line, the stem points down.
• If it's ON the middle line, the stem can go either way, whichever looks better to you.

Rests

In music, silence is called a rest. Rests also have a value and are written into the sheet music:

Related pages:

How To Read Music Notes 

Keyboard Notes 

Musical Staff

The musical staff has five lines and four spaces. We count the lines and spaces from the bottom up. So we can say: "the note on the second line" or "the note on the third space". The staff may have more or less than five lines but in modern music it's uncommon.

Clefs

Where you find notes on the musical staff will be determined by the clef at the beginning of each line of music. The two most common clefs are the treble clef and the bass clef.

Notes on the Staff - Treble Clef

In music, notes have letter names: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. (Some countries in Europe use the letter H instead of B.)

In the treble clef staff, you put E on the first line (i.e. the first line at the bottom). Then you go on naming the other notes from there. F will be on the first space, G on the second line, etc. When you get to E on the fourth space, you just start the circle again and continue with F, G, etc. You'll easily memorize the places of notes if you remember the word FACE(from the bottom up) for the spaces and Every Good Boy Does Fine (again from the bottom up) for the lines.

Notes on the Staff - Bass Clef

The system of naming notes in bass clef is the same as in treble clef. However, you'll find G on the first line. Then comes A on the first space, B on the second line, etc. You'll easily remember the places of the notes if you remember the sentence All Cows Eat Grass (from the bottom up) for the spaces and Good Boys Do Fine Always (similarly, from the bottom up) for the lines.

Notes on the Staff - Ledger Lines

Sometimes music includes notes lower or higher than what you can put into the musical staff. That's when you use ledger lines. For example, if you have a piece of music which starts with treble clef, there might be a B in it which is lower than E on the first line. In that case, you'll have a little extra line under the first line and place the note B under that. There might be one or more ledger lines below or over the musical staff, whether the music is written down in treble clef or bass clef. Theoretically, you can use as many ledger lines as you like - only the available space will limit the number.

Notes on the Staff - Middle C

In treble clef, Middle C is on the first ledger line under the staff. In bass clef, Middle C is on the first ledger line above the staff. It means that they are identical notes. On the piano, it's the C literally "in the middle".

The Gand Staff

When you have a treble clef line and a bass clef line, and they are joined by a line, you call it the grand staff. You use it in cases when two or more instruments play at once and/or when an instrument is capable of playing several notes at the same time, e.g. the piano.

Practice Makes Perfect!

The only way to memorize where the notes are in treble and bass clef is to practice them. For example, you could choose a piece of music you'd like to learn to play on the piano and (without writing the note names under the musical staff) learn to play and read it. The more you practice it the faster and easier you'll read music. Even if you don't play the piano, if you visualize notes on a keyboard, it'll be much easier to remember the system of music notes.

If you'd like to practice the musical staff and reading music more, I recommend The Everything Reading Music Book. There is great step-by-step music theory instruction in it. This book doesn't bore you with unnecessary technical terms that you'll never use!

More Music Theory 

Musical Bars

Musical bars are the vertical lines you see in sheet music. You can also call them measures. We divide longer pieces of music to smaller pieces, i.e. bars. After each measure there is a bar line.

To be able to decide where a measure ends and the next one begins, you'll need to understand what time signature is. The time signature is those two numbers you'll find at the beginning of each line in sheet music. These numbers will tell you how many notes will go into each musical bar. The top number tells you how many beats there are in the measure. And the bottom number tells you what note gets the beat.

For example, if the time signature is 3/4, there will be 3 quarter notes in each bar (or mathematically equivalent notes - see the note lengths and rests page to see what I mean by mathematically equivalent notes).

Most contemporary music is 4/4 or 3/4 time but you can also find songs in 3/8 and 2/4 time.

If you get the task to decide where bar lines go in a piece of music, first check the time signature. Then simply start counting the notes and put a bar line where you need to.

For example, in 3/4 time, I would need a bar line after each three quarter notes (or equivalent). Then I'd start counting over again and put the second bar line after the second three quarter notes (or equivalent) and so on.

Be careful, however, because sometimes the time signature changes somewhere during the piece of music. If it does, you'll need to count the notes according to the new time signature until the end of the music or until there is a new time signature again.

At the end of each piece of music, you'll find a double bar line. It means that you've reached the end of the song or piece of music.

More Music Theory

How To Read Music Notes

Fortunately, learning how to read music notes is not as difficult and mysterious as some might think. There are a few very simple rules/signs to remember. And if you learn or recognize those, voila, you can read music. You'll be able to play any song that you can get your hands on.

Notes

The following notes exist: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. They repeat up and down on the scale (or piano).

These notes also have sharp and flat versions. It means that A♯ (i.e. A sharp) is half a note (step) high than A and A♭ (i.e. A flat) is half a step lower than A.

There are also "en-harmonic" notes. It means that there is a note that has two different names. For instance, A♭ is the same note as G♯. It's an identical note, however, you can "approach" it in two ways.

The Staff

The five lines that you see in the sheet music is called the staff. You can place notes ON the lines and BETWEEN the lines. Sometimes if there is a particularly high or low note, you can even add one or more short lines below or above the original five.

The staff always contains several measures (or bars) that divide the music into small, comprehensible pieces. These measures are divided by bar lines.

At the end of the song, there are two lines, a thinner and a thicker one. It means that the music ends there.

This is the most basic step in learning how to read music notes.

Time Signatures

Often you'll find a time signature at the beginning of the staff (right after the clef sign). There are always two numbers there, one on the top and one on the bottom.

The top number shows you the number of beats in each measure (or bar). The bottom number tells you what kind of note gets a full beat. It's all maths. The most common time signatures in popular music are 4/4 and 3/4.

Note Lengths
Note lengths are one of the most important pieces of knowledge you can have if you want to learn how to read music notes. You'll find four main types of notes in sheet music. They show you how long you have to hold the notes when you play them:

If there is a 4/4 measure, for example, you can play any combination of notes as long as their values add up to 4 beats. You could play one half note (2 beats) and four eighth notes (another 2 beats) and this way get 4 beats. And you thought mathematics wasn't important for musicians? :)There are also so called "dotted notes". It's easy to recognize them: there is a little dot right after the note.

The dot increases the duration of the note by half of its original value. E.g. if a note lasts 2 beats, the dotted note lasts 2+1 that is 3 beats. Any number of dots may be added to a note, however, usually there is only one.Note: if we play several notes at the same time, we have a chord. More about chords and how to learn them in minutes here: Keyboard Chords


Key Signatures
You'll find the key signatures (a group of sharps and flats) at the beginning of the staff. They help you a lot in showing how to read music notes. Key signatures show you the key of the song and which notes are sharp or flat in that key. I've written a separate page about key signatures.


Octave Placement Notation
A piano contains 88 keys. That's a lot of octaves. And that's why sometimes you'll see octave placement notations in the sheet music. These signs are always followed by a dashed line which tell you how long this modification lasts.

Treble Clef
The treble clef is this famous and beautiful sign that you often see at the beginning of the staff (and as necklace pedants). It tells you what notes the different musical notes in that line correspond to.

The C that you can find on the first added (ledger) line below the lowest line in the staff is middle C. If you have a piano, you'll find this note around the middle.

An easy way to memorize line and space names in treble clef is to remember to spell FACE from bottom up (for the spaces) and memorize the following: Every Good Boy Does Fine because the first letters of it represent the notes on the lines.

Bass Clef
The bass clef is the other sign that you often see at the beginning of the staff. Just like the treble clef, it tells you what notes the different musical notes in that line correspond to.

The C that you'll find on the first ledger line above the highest line in the staff is middle C.

An easy way to memorize the letters for the bass clef lines and spaces is to remember Good Boys Do Fine Always (for the lines) and memorize the following: All Cows Eat Grass (for the spaces).

Why is there a separate staff for treble AND bass clef sometimes?
It's especially important to know for budding pianists who want to know how to read music notes. If there are two lines of staff (one treble and one bass line) in the song, it's made so that you can play the song on the piano. You must play the notes in the treble clef with your right hand, and the notes in the bass clef with your left hand. The bass line usually gives a rhythmic foundation to play under the main melody.


The Natural Sign
The natural sign looks like this: ♮. It indicates an unmodified pitch. Placed before a specific note, it cancels out a flat or sharp that's in the key signature or negates a sharp or flat established earlier in the bar.


Rests
Often there is a shorter or longer pause in music. Of course, there is a way to show it in sheet music.

Repeat Sign
A repetition of a musical passage is indicated by the use of a repeat sign. You need to repeat the music that's before this sign. It's essential to know for learning how to read music notes.

Tempo
The tempo tells you the speed of a song. It's measured in beats per minute (BPM). You'll find it at the beginning of the sheet music. There are two forms: "♪ = 76" or "76 BPM".


Triplets
A triplet is a grouping of three notes to a beat. Usually they contain three eighth notes. But it's a more advanced part of learning how to read music notes.

Ties
A tie is a curvy line that connects two notes. It means that the time values of the connected notes have to be added together. For example, a whole note tied with a half note in 4/4 time would mean it has to last 6 beats (4+2).

Grace Notes
Grace notes add color to the music. They are usually a half or a whole step below or above the note that follows. They are smaller than the "main" notes. However, grace notes are not that common but they are good to know about if you want to learn how to read music notes well.

First and Second Endings
They are a way of repeating a section of music but each time with a different ending. When you play it first, take the first ending, when you play it second, take the second ending.

Well, I guess this page must have answered most of your questions about how to read music notes. If you would like to familiarize yourself even more with reading music, I recommend:

✓ Learn & Master Piano or Learn & Master Guitar. They are comprehensive piano and guitar instruction courses that come with DVDs, CDs and a course book to help you master your instrument. I've used Learn and Master Piano and it's amazing. It takes you from a complete beginner to advanced level. It think it would've taken me at least 5 years to get to the place where you go can with this course in a couple of months.

✓ I also like The Everything Reading Music Book. It's a step-by-step introduction to understanding music notation and theory.


I borrowed the illustrations on this page from the Learn & Master Piano course book which contains even more details about how to read music notes.

Learn Thousands of Chords In Minutes HERE! 

More Music Theory 

Music Scale

A music scale is a series of notes, which ascend and descend in a specific order. Usually the notes of a scale belong to a single key. So they provide material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical work, together with the melody and harmony. Scales are ordered in pitch. The two most important categories in popular music are the major and minor scales.

Major Scales

Major scales sound bright and lively. All scales begin and end with the same note. For example, the F major scale begins with an F note and then ends with an F note. It's true for all the other keys.

A major scale consists of two whole steps, one half step, three whole steps then a half step again: WS-WS-HS-WS-WS-WS-HS (WH stands for whole step, HS stands for half step, i.e. a whole note and a half note.)

Only the C major scale HAS no sharps or flats in it.

So here are all the major scales:

Minor Scales

A minor music scale sounds melancholic. melancholic. There are three types of minor scales:

Natural Minor Scale

Here are all the natural minor scales:

Natural minor music scales have a whole step, a half step, two whole steps, a half steps, and two whole steps formula: WS-HS-WS-WS-HS-WS-WS.

Harmonic Minor Scale
Raise the seventh note of the scale by a half-step as you go up and down the scale. For example:


Natural C Minor Scale = C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C

Harmonic C Minor Scale = C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - B - C

Melodic Minor Scale

Raise the sixth and seventh notes of a scale by a half step as you go up the scale and then return to the natural minor as you go down the scale. For example:


Melodic C Minor Scale = C - D - Eb - F - G - A - B - C (as you go up the scale)

Natural C Minor Scale = C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C (as you go down the scale)

More about Music Theory