Notation & Rhythm
Reading the staff and clefs, note and rest values, time signatures, and counting rhythm.
42 articles · 7 tools
Guides — 12 guides
Guitar string names
Learn the six guitar string names in order — E, A, D, G, B, E — why the numbering runs backwards, the standard tuning, and easy mnemonics to memorize them.
Middle C
What middle C is, how to find it on the keyboard, its pitch and frequency (C4, ~261.63 Hz), and where it sits on the grand staff — with a quick reference table.
How to read guitar tabs
Learn to read guitar tablature from scratch: what the six lines and numbers mean, a full table of tab symbols, a famous riff read off the tab, and tab’s one limit.
How to play piano: a beginner's guide
Start playing piano step by step: posture, the keyboard, your first notes, reading music, scales, chords, rhythm, and how to practice.
Key signatures, explained
What a key signature is, why it exists, the order of sharps and flats, and two quick tricks for naming the major key — and its relative minor — at a glance.
Note values, rests, and time signatures
Learn how rhythm is written: note values and rests, dots and ties, and how a time signature groups the beat into measures so you can count and play in time.
Piano keys and notes: a map of the keyboard
Name any key on sight: the repeating pattern of white and black keys, the black-key landmarks, octaves and middle C, and the sharps and flats.
The bass clef, explained
Read the bass clef with confidence: what the F clef marks, the line and space note names, where middle C sits, and a simple path to fluency.
The treble clef, explained
Read the treble clef with confidence: what the G clef is, name every line (E, G, B, D, F) and space (F, A, C, E), and find middle C below the staff.
How to read piano notes
Learn to connect notes on the page to keys on the piano: orient by the black-key groups, anchor on middle C, and turn any written note into the right key.
How to read sheet music: a beginner's guide
Learn to read sheet music from scratch: the staff, treble and bass clefs, note names, note values, and time signatures, plus a simple practice path.
Circle of fifths
The one diagram that turns key signatures, related keys and chords into something you can reason about — the circle of fifths, explained.
From the books — 30 articles
Reading Fretboard Diagrams
How to read the fretboard diagrams used throughout the book — dots, open strings, root notes and fret numbers explained.
Dynamics, Slurs, and Articulations
Play Clementi's "Sonatina in C Major" while learning dynamics, slurs, articulations, and cut time to shape phrases with smooth, separated, loud, and soft notes.
Using Intervals in Songs
Hear how major and minor 2nds shape real melodies, and discover why these whole- and half-step intervals are the everyday building blocks of music.
Introducing 6/8 and 12/8 Time
Count in eighth notes with the 6/8 and 12/8 time signatures, then play a traditional tune in the new key of B-flat major.
Introducing 3/4 Time
Count in threes with 3/4 waltz time, tracing its roots to Strauss and Lanner before playing a folk tune in this lilting meter.
Alternatives to 4/4 Time
Move beyond familiar 4/4 time by understanding what a time signature's top and bottom numbers really mean, opening the door to new rhythms.
Using Accidentals
Step outside a key signature using sharp, flat, and natural signs called accidentals, and learn how long they stay in force within a measure.
Introducing Key Signatures
Discover how the sharps or flats at the start of a piece form a key signature that tells you which key you're in and which major scale a song is built on.
“Straight Eighths” vs. “Swing Eighths”
Drop the middle note of each triplet to hear where swing eighths come from, and learn why the "&" lands later than in straight rhythms.
4/4 Time Signature
Decode the 4/4 time signature placed after the clef, where the top number sets four beats per measure and the bottom number defines the beat's rhythmic value.
The Sixteenth Rest
Get to know the two-flagged sixteenth rest and play a melody that weaves together quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes with their matching rests.
Introducing Sixteenth Notes
Learn the sixteenth note, worth a quarter of a beat, along with its double flags and beams and the new "e & a" counting that divides each beat into four.
Introducing Dotted Eighth Notes
Add a dot to an eighth note to stretch it to three-quarters of a beat, then pair it with a sixteenth note to fill a single beat.
Eighth-Note Triplets
Squeeze three eighth notes into a single beat to create triplets, counting "1 trip-let 2 trip-let" evenly while spotting the telltale beamed "3."
The Eighth Rest
Get acquainted with the eighth rest, a half-beat silence, and practice a melody that mixes eighth notes and rests by clapping before you play.
Introducing Tied Notes
Discover how a tie links two same-pitch notes into one sustained sound, letting a note ring across the barline when beats run short.
Introducing Dotted Notes
Add a dot after a note to extend its length by half again, turning half notes into three-beat values and quarter notes into one-and-a-half.
Introducing Eighth Notes
Meet the eighth note, lasting half a beat, and learn how flags and beams notate it whether it stands alone or joins its neighbors.
Pickup Measures
Find out why many songs start partway into the first measure and how composers use pickup measures to drop the opening rests before the melody begins.
Introducing Rests
Understand rests as measured beats of silence, learning to count and observe one-, two-, and four-beat pauses just as carefully as the notes you play.
Counting Rhythms with Quarter, Half, and Whole Notes
Count your way through a 4/4 example by placing the right number of beats under each note, ensuring every measure adds up to the time signature.
Introducing Note Lengths
Get to grips with quarter, half, and whole notes, learning how each note's shape and stem tell you exactly how many beats it lasts.
Separating Music into Measures
Meet the rhythmic pulse behind music and learn how beats are grouped into measures with bar lines, including the final double bar that marks a song's end.
Learning the Note Names in Treble and Bass Clefs
Build a set of C-note 'guideposts' across a four-octave range to quickly recognize and read note names throughout the treble and bass clefs.
Middle C and Ledger Lines
See why middle C sits between the clefs and how ledger lines extend the staff to notate the notes that fall just above and below it.
The Grand Staff
Discover how the treble and bass clefs join into the grand staff, the standard layout for piano music where your right and left hands each read their own clef.
The Bass Clef
Meet the bass clef used for left-hand notes, and learn how the F line helps you name the notes across the lower keyboard.
The Treble Clef
Meet the treble clef used for right-hand notes, and learn how the G line and middle C anchor your reading of the upper keyboard.
The Musical Staff
Begin reading music by learning the five-line staff and how notes sit on lines and spaces to tell you exactly what to play.
Finding the White and Black Keys
Make sense of the keyboard layout by spotting the two-and-three black-key groups and using the A-to-G music alphabet to name the white keys.
Tools — 7 tools
Notation & Rhythm tools →Interactive tools for Notation & Rhythm — try them right in your browser.
Note finder
Pick a note and see every place it sits on the piano keyboard, named — and tap any key to hear it.
Key signature finder
Pick a mode and a key and see its sharps or flats drawn on the staff, the scale spelled out, and its relative key named — then hear it played.
Metronome
Set the tempo and time signature and practice in steady time, or open the Pro tab for subdivisions, per-beat accents, a speed trainer, a gap trainer, click sounds, and recording yourself under the click — all free, right in your browser.
Note reading trainer
Practice reading the treble, alto or bass staff: a note appears, you click it on the piano. Instant feedback, the note plays, your score tracks.
Accidental calculator
Pick a key and a note letter and it tells you the sharp, flat, or natural that letter carries in that key, spells the note, and shows it on the staff.
Key signature trainer
A key signature appears on the staff, you pick the major key it belongs to, and you get instant feedback and a running score.
Tap tempo (BPM tapper)
Tap the button or the space bar in time with any music and it reads the tempo back in BPM, with a matching tempo marking.