Basic Terms And Symbol In Music

Music for any instrument is notated on the staff.  Do not confuse the staff with the strings of the guitar.  

Treble cleff.  
This sign appears at the beginning of every line of guitar music.  
The purpose of  the  treble clef will be explained at a later point.

 

To organize music we use measures.

 

  

A double bar signifies that this is the end of the piece or exercise.

 

  The quarter note:

Quarter notes are half as long as half notes, so they will receive 1 beat each.

The eighth note:

 

Two or more eighth notes can be notated like this : 



Eighth notes are half as long as quarter notes.  So two eighth notes have to be played in the same time it takes for one quarter note to be played. To count eighth notes we have to use SUBDIVISION. We subdivide the quarter beat into two eighth note beats by using the symbol & (and).








By now you might have begun to wonder what  the 4/4  
at the beginning of each line stands for.

It is called time signature, and it appears at the beginning of every musical selection or exercise.

4/4 stands for 4 quarter beats per measure. They can appear in any form.

3/4    3 quarter beats per measure

2/4    2 quarter beats per measure

Rest Sign :