Music notation symbols

Also called Music symbols or Sheet music symbols

Music notation uses a small set of symbols: a staff and clef that place the notes, notes and rests that time them, sharps and flats that alter them, and marks for loudness, touch and speed. This chart names each one.

Most of a page of piano music is notes. Around them sit a few dozen symbols, and a beginner meets the same twenty again and again. They are shown here in the order a score is read: what sets up the staff, what times the notes, and what says how to play them.

The symbols at the start of a staff

A treble clef, a key signature of one sharp, a 4/4 time signature, a barline between the measures, and a final barline.

Notes and rests

Whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes, then a rest of each length.

Marks that say how to play

A tempo word above; a slur, staccato dots, an accent and a fermata on the notes; p, a crescendo and f below.

Every symbol, and where it is explained

SymbolWhat it tells youExplained in
Treble clef (𝄞)The second line is G above middle CTreble and bass clef
Bass clef (𝄢)The fourth line is F below middle CTreble and bass clef
Ledger lines, 8vaA note above or below the staff; 8va over notes: an octave higherLedger lines and 8va
Key signatureThe sharps or flats that hold for the whole pieceKey signature
Time signature, barlinesHow many beats fill a measure, and where each measure endsTime signature
NotesHow long a sound lastsNote values
RestsHow long a silence lastsRests
A dot after a noteThe note lasts half as long againDotted notes
Sharp ♯, flat ♭, natural ♮A half step up, a half step down, back to the plain noteSharps, flats, and naturals
Repeat signs, 1st and 2nd endingsPlay a passage againRepeat signs
p, mf, f, crescendoHow loudDynamics
Staccato, accent, tenuto, slurHow each note is touchedArticulation
Allegro, ♩ = 120, rit., fermataHow fast, and where the music slows or holdsTempo markings
Ped.Press the sustain pedalThe sustain pedal

Common questions

What do the symbols at the start of a staff mean?

Read them left to right: the clef says which note each line is, the key signature which notes are sharp or flat, and the time signature how the beats are counted. Everything after them is the music itself.

What is the difference between a sharp and a flat?

A sharp raises a note by a half step, to the very next key on the right; a flat lowers it a half step, to the next key on the left. A natural sign cancels either one.

What does a dot after a note mean?

It makes the note half as long again: a dotted half note lasts three beats instead of two, a dotted quarter one and a half. A dot above or below the note head is a different mark, staccato: play the note short.