Reading Music: The Staff, Notes and Rests

0:00How can we write music down?

0:05Written music often uses a staff: five lines and four spaces.

0:11The treble clef sets the pitch of each line and space.

0:15A note sits on a line or in a space.

0:19The higher a note sits on the staff, the higher it sounds.

0:27The shape of a note shows how many beats it lasts.

0:32Here a quarter note, filled in with a stem, lasts one beat.

0:40A half note is hollow with a stem, and lasts two beats.

0:47A whole note is hollow with no stem, and lasts four beats.

0:54A single eighth note has a flag, and lasts half a beat.

1:01A rest is a silence, and each note length has its own rest.

1:07Read this bar: quarter note, quarter rest, half note.

1:14A note's place shows how high, its shape shows how long, and a rest is a silence.