Musical Alphabet

The musical alphabet is a series of seven letters which are used to identify musical notes. The interesting thing about the musical alphabet is that it spans only from the letter A to the letter G. There is no H, I, J, K or anything after the letter G. Rather, after G we simply go back to the letter A and then repeat the ...

How To Read Notes On The Staff

The staff is a series of five lines and four spaces which are used as a template for identifying musical notes. The letter names for each line and space on the staff are designated by a symbol placed at the beginning of the staff called a clef. The two most commonly used clefs are a treble clef (also known as a G clef) and a bass clef (also known as an F clef). In this video we will discuss how to read and

Enharmonic Equivalents

An enharmonic equivalents is a note or tone that can be spelled with two or more different letter names. In this video we go in depth on how to identify each enharmonic equivalent with examples on the staff and on a piano keyboard.

Understanding Basic Rhythm

Aside from having a pitch position, each note on the staff can also be read by its rhythmic duration. Different rhythmic durations, such as whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes imply that the note should be sounded for a different length of time.

How To Read Eighth Notes

An eighth note is a subdivision of the quarter note in which each beat is broken down into two equal parts. Therefore, in a staff with a 4/4 time signature, each measure can hold up to 8 equal eighth notes.

How To Read Sixteenth Notes

A sixteenth note is a subdivision of the quarter note in which each beat is broken down into four equal parts. Therefore, in a staff with a 4/4 time signature, each measure can hold up to 16 equal sixteenth notes.

The Dot

A dot placed next to a note increases the rhythmic duration of that note by half of its original value. For example, if a whole note sounds for two beats, a dotted whole note would sound for four beats. In this video we will discuss what happens when a dot is placed next to a whole note, a half note, a quarter note, and an eighth note.