How to Read Sheet Music

How to Read Sheet Music. By a twelve-year-old— [beep] By someone not qualified to talk about sheet music. Let's start with the staff. This is a staff. This symbol at the beginning tells you which clef to play. There are two main clefs: the low one and the high one. There are also some more obscure clefs that you'll never be told about. The two main clefs, treble and bass, are connected by a middle note we call C. You'll find that a lot of music stuff is based around C, except tuning; that's based around A. Unless you play in a band and it's based on the note right above A. That is, assuming you play an instrument that calls notes what they actually are. Instruments that call notes what they actually are include these, while instruments that don't call notes what they actually are include these. Notes are found on the lines and spaces of the staff. They all sound different. You can put them together to sound nice. [Dissonant notes play] This is a whole note. Sometimes it gets four beats, sometimes it doesn't. This is a half note, it gets half the length of the whole note. A quarter note gets half the length of that, while an eighth note gets half the length of that. This pattern continues on for a bit, so you can make notes as short as you please. For example, the two-hundred-and-fifty-sixth note, or demisemihemidemisemiquaver. You'll find that information very useful. Now that you know the notes and rhythms, it's time to move on to the important stuff and figure out what all these symbols mean. So let's just go through them. This reminds you when to breathe... in case you forget to breathe. Stop playing, contemplate, and continue playing. This is easy. This is not. Counting to five has never been more difficult. You were never informed of this. Meh. Be soft. Softer. Don't even bother. Meh. Be loud. Louder. Don't even bother. Play loud, and then don't. Play loud... ...and then don't. If you're reading this, it's already too late. So you go back when... no, wait... dooloolooloolooloolooloolooloolooloolooloo This is only fun when playing trombone. ...and is also the only fun thing about playing trombone. You should probably stop staring at the paper. Like a solo, but everyone gets credit. You're unimportant. You're... very unimportant. At least you're playing. You thought it was over. Someone's playing the wrong note. Just... stop. [Dissonant keysmash over and over again]

Channel: Julian Cianciolo

Views: 7,955,172

Keywords: how to read sheet music, comedy, guide, unqualified, staff, staves, clef, clefs, treble clef, bass clef, obscure clefs, middle c, funny, music, humor, lines and spaces, chords, whole notes, 256th note, two-hundred-and-fifty-sixth note, demisemihemidemisemiquaver, demisemihemidemisemi, solo, soli, dynamics, band, orchestra, forte, piano, mezzo forte, mezzo piano, subito, coda, tremelo, glissando, trombone, accelerando, ritardando

Id: -3WuQxnA7Hg

Length: 2min 14sec (134 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 27 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/tacocatspelledback]

As a trombone, he is correct about the glissando.

[u/manbrasucks]

   64
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me too thanks

[u/Arielh100]

Demisemihemidemisemiquaver

[u/ripture]

This would probably be way funnier if I actually knew what these all meant. Anyone mind glossing over what the following actually mean?

• the "c" and "cent" symbols ("this is easy, this is not")
• the "fp" and "sfz" symbols ("play loud, and then dont, play loud, and then.. dont")
• "subito" ("if you're reading this, it's already too late")
• the "s" with division symbol superimposed and "o" with a cross in it ("so you go back when, no, wait..")

[u/Misterwierd]

I learned to play the clarinet in 5th grade. I learned how to read sheet music and what not. I continued to participate in our schools symphonic band until 10th grade. I almost never practiced. I ended up pretty much losing my ability to read sheet music; I could follow along and whatnot, but if you were to point to any arbitrary note, i couldn't tell you what letter it was. I still had the muscle memory of the fingering's for most notes we used, and their relation to eachother, but I lost what they were called. Its been many years now. I wonder if I can still play....

ramble ramble ramble

[u/Spageto]

That tremolo had me dying.

[u/CalmRationalDebate]

We're going to make symbols, and these symbols correspond to sounds. Fine. We're going to make tiny b's and hashtags, put them in the far right, and you have to then substitute the mentioned symbols left or right by one for the rest of the piece.

What? And why?

Because I'm too lazy to write the whole piece with the correct symbols, so I'll just make an offset key for you at the start, and you get to eat shit.

Fuck music notation. You pay a team of engineers to represent notes on a page, no way in hell they come up with the mess we have right now.

I want to murder Chopin with a double sharp. It's a fucking D dude, just say D. No one cares about your stupid depressing reasons for not just telling me the correct note.

Can you image if, in language, I was allowed to say "Alright, this is my book, but all "f"s have been switched with "g"s, and any bold letters are one to the left of their face value.

FUCK YOU just write the fucking book. Use the letters you want to use to represent the words you want to say to communicate the fucking things.Fuck

[u/HOPE9star]

Good

[u/enum5345]

I have a question about time signatures. Instead of 4/4, can you write the sheet music in some ridiculously high time signature like 10000/10000 with notes that just happens to sound exactly like 4/4?