HOW TO USE THE MUSICAL SCORES WHEN YOU DON’T READ MUSIC!
Even if you don’t know how to read music, a musical score can help you learn the music. Here are some tips for how to make use of the scores.
Basic Vocabulary
Staff: A staff is made up of five lines. The placement of a note on the staff tells you what the pitch is. Even if you don’t read music, noticing when the notes go up, down, or stay the same can be very helpful as you learn the music.
System: A group of staves (plural of staff) that are sung at the same time.
Measure: The space in between vertical lines. You’ll see measure numbers at the top left of each system.
Time signature: The two numbers at the beginning of the score tell you how many beats in a measure. Sometimes the time signature might change in the middle of the score as well. The top number tells you how many beats in each measure. For the most part, you can ignore the bottom number which tells you the duration of each beat.
Notes: Notes with flags on the stem or connected with a bar on top (eighth and sixteenth notes) are the shortest. These are eighth notes (one flag) and sixteenth notes (two flags). Notes with just a stem and solid black are quarter notes. Quarter notes are most often what you use to count the beats; in that case the bottom number in the time signature is a 4. Notes that are hollow with a stem are half notes and have a longer duration. And notes that are hollow with no stem are the longest. Oftentimes in rehearsal, we will count the beats and it will be helpful to write that onto your printed copy.
Rests: Various squiggles and small boxes designate rests where you make no sound. Rests are just as important as the notes, especially when it comes to rhythm.
Symbols
- A sideways carrot over a note tells you to accent that note.
- A dot (staccato) over a note tells you to make the note very short.
- An arch with a dot (fermata) over a note tells you to hold the note extra long.
- Two notes that are the same and are connected with a slightly curved line are tied together to make one longer note. Oftentimes, ties tell you that the rhythm is syncopated.
- When two different notes are connected with a slightly curved line it’s called a slur and the first note should lean into the second note.
- “Rit” tells you to ritard or slow down.