Reading music
#music/notation · Note 8 of 9 · part of Guitar
Two systems. Tab tells you where to put your fingers. Staff tells you what the music actually is. Guitarists can get a long way on tab alone, and hit a wall the moment rhythm gets complicated.
Tab
Six lines, one per string — and note the order is upside-down from how you look at the guitar: the top line is the thinnest string.
e|--0--1--3--| ← 1st string (thinnest)
B|-----------|
G|-----------|
D|-----------|
A|-----------|
E|-----------| ← 6th string (thickest)
Numbers are frets, 0 is open. Notes stacked vertically are played together.
| Mark | Means |
|---|---|
h |
hammer-on |
p |
pull-off |
/ \ |
slide up / down |
b |
bend |
r |
release a bend |
~ or v |
vibrato |
x |
muted, percussive |
PM |
palm mute |
Tab's weakness: it carries no rhythm. 0—1—3 says nothing about how long
each lasts. That is exactly what the staff is for, and why the good tabs put
both together.
The staff
Five lines and four spaces. Guitar uses the treble clef (𝄞).
Notes on the lines, bottom to top: E G B D F. Notes in the spaces, bottom to top: F A C E — which conveniently spells "face".
Guitar music is written an octave higher than it sounds. A written middle C comes out an octave below middle C. Without that convention the notation would sit permanently below the staff on ledger lines.
Accidentals
| Symbol | Name | Does |
|---|---|---|
| ♯ | sharp | up one semitone (one fret) |
| ♭ | flat | down one semitone |
| ♮ | natural | cancels a sharp or flat |
| 𝄪 | double sharp | up two semitones |
| 𝄫 | double flat | down two semitones |
An accidental lasts to the end of its bar, then expires.
In sargam terms (Sargam and the scale): ♭ makes a swara komal, ♯ on Ma makes it tivra.
Key signatures
Sharps or flats written once at the start, applying to every bar. They say which scale — which Sa — the piece lives in.
| Key | Sharps / flats |
|---|---|
| C major | none |
| G major | 1♯ (F♯) |
| D major | 2♯ (F♯ C♯) |
| A major | 3♯ |
| F major | 1♭ (B♭) |
| B♭ major | 2♭ |
Sharps always appear in the order F C G D A E B; flats in exactly the reverse. Each new key adds one, going round the circle of fifths.
Dynamics — how loud
| Mark | Italian | Means |
|---|---|---|
| pp | pianissimo | very soft |
| p | piano | soft |
| mp | mezzo-piano | medium soft |
| mf | mezzo-forte | medium loud |
| f | forte | loud |
| ff | fortissimo | very loud |
< |
crescendo | getting louder |
> |
diminuendo | getting softer |
Articulation — how played
| Mark | Means |
|---|---|
| Dot above a note | staccato — short, detached |
| Line above a note | tenuto — hold its full length |
> above a note |
accent — strike it harder |
| Curved line, different pitches | slur — smoothly connected |
| Curved line, same pitch | tie — one longer note |
| 𝄐 | fermata — hold as long as you like |
Getting around the page
| Symbol | Means |
|---|---|
| 𝄆 𝄇 | repeat the section between |
| 1. 2. | first and second time endings |
| D.C. | da capo — from the top |
| D.S. | dal segno — from the sign 𝄋 |
| Coda 𝄌 | jump to the ending |
| Fine | the end |
D.C. al Fine means: go back to the beginning and stop at Fine. It is a compression trick from when paper was expensive, and it survives.
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