Strummer1's Standard Notation Page

Read Music I

Why Learn How to Read Standard Notation?

Many years ago, I took some music lessons--actually about eight years worth of lessons! But they were piano lessons, not guitar lessons. Anyway, I can recall my first lesson, and it was dedicated entirely to learning how to read music in standard notation. It really wasn't hard, I learned how to do it in under an hour, and I was only eight years old at the time!

Since becoming involved in guitar music, I have encountered many players who feel that learning how to read music is really a waste of time, and that players can play equally well whether they can read music or not. There is some truth to this. You really don't need to read standard notation in order to play the guitar--excepting the classical guitar where a knowledge of reading music is really necessary. For all other types of playing, if you can figure out tab, you'll be able to play a song. And if you're really good and have great musical instincts, you'll be able to figure it out by ear.

So, why should any guitar player--particularly one who is not interested in classical guitar--learn how to read music? It's a good question, and one that generates a lot of debate. My opinion is this: knowledge is power, and learning how to read music in standard notation is not that hard. So why not do it? Also, if you know how to read music, you can open a piece of sheet music and, once you become skilled enough, be able to read the piece in your head, that is, be able to look at it, and mentally read the music, getting a sense of the melody and the accompaniment, before you even sit down to play it.

You'll notice that most music for the guitar is published in both standard notation and tab. The standard notation is really the best representation of the song as the composer intended it. While tab has evolved to the point where the timing of notes can be indicated in certain ways, it is well behind standard notation, which can indicate not only the notes to be played but the timing of those notes as well to the highest degree of certainty. In other words, if you can read standard notation, you will be able to play the song exactly as the composer intended it to be played, or very close to it, anyway. With standard notation, there is no uncertainty about the notes to be played and the timing of those notes.

Finally, there is the question of the number of tools in your musical toolbox. Sure, you can play without knowing how to read standard notation. But why would you want to exclude this tool when it is so easy to learn? It's like being a painter who can create really beautiful pictures without knowing anything about the theory of color. But how much better a painter might he or she be if he or she understood all of the relationships between colors and their effect upon the viewers of paintings? If you take a little bit of time to learn how to read music, you will forever have increased your knowledge and, in my opinion, be a better player. And it's really easy to do.

Read Music NOW!

The standard music staff (the lines upon which music is written) consists of five horizontal lines, and looks like this:

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

(Throughout, I will be talking about the treble clef staff. Various instruments require different clefs, that is, different ways of reading notes on these five lines. For example, the piano requires both the treble clef for the right hand, and the bass clef for the left hand. The guitar requires only the treble cleff.)

Each line and each space between the lines has a letter name. In music, there are only seven letter names assigned to notes: ABCDEFG. After the G, the series starts all over again: AGBDEFGABCDEFG, etc.

I learned the letter names and spaces of the staff by memorizing the following. This might seem a bit "babyish," but it worked for me way back when, and I believe it will work for you. Anyway, it's worth a try, isn't it? So let's do it.

You can learn the letter names of the lines of the staff by memorizing the following sentence:

Every Good Boy Does Fine

The first letter of each word in the above sentence represents the name of the note on the respective lines of the staff. So, the notes assigned to the LINES of the music staff are as follows.

|------------------------------------------------------F(ine)--|
|-----------------------------------------D(oes)---------------|
|-----------------------------B(oy)----------------------------|
|-----------------G(ood)---------------------------------------|
|---E(very)----------------------------------------------------|

So, what about the spaces in between the lines? Even easier. The spaces spell out the word FACE:

|------------------------------------------------------F(ine)--------|
|                                                  E                 |
|-----------------------------------------D(oes)---------------------|
|                                     C                              |
|-----------------------------B(oy)----------------------------------|
|                         A                                          |
|-----------------G(ood)---------------------------------------------|
|        F                                                           |
|---E(very)----------------------------------------------------------|

Now, you'll notice that the sequence of notes from first line to last conforms to the musical alphabetical order, as outlined above. There is no note beyond G. After G, you start again with A. But between A and G, the notes are in normal alphabetical order. So, while the first line of the staff begins with E, the space following is F, the line following is G. But once you get to G, the last letter in the musical alphabet, you have start all over again with A.

Does this sound a little confusing? Well, probably. But it is really pretty easy. Just remember that the musical alphabet goes from A to G and then starts all over again on A and you can't go wrong!

Applying Standard Notation to the Guitar

So how, you're asking, do I apply any of this to the guitar? Good question! Unlike the piano, which has a sequential series of notes on it's keyboard that follows the musical alphabet, the guitar's series of strings and frettings are not at all intuitive when trying to apply the rules of standard notation. OK, that's tough. But we have to live with it and get beyond the problem. And you can without too much trouble, at least in standard tuning (EADGBE).

How does it work? Simple. The fourth space on the staff is E. A note written in this space would be the note you strike when you pick the first string open in standard tuning. A note written on the third line (B) would be the second string open. A note written on the second line would be the third string open. See how it works so far?

When we get to the fourth, fifth, and sixth strings open, however, we run into a problem. These notes are lower than the existing lines and spaces of the music staff can handle. So, what do we do? Simple. Add more lines and spaces, but just for the individual notes. Let me give you an example. The fourth string open in standard tuning is D. This would be the D just below the E that would be written on the the first line of the staff. So, that note would be written in the space just below the first line.

The fifth string in standard tuning, A, is a bit more complex. If you were to count down lines and spaces to get to A from the first line, E, you would do this: E is the line. The space below it would be D. A line below D would be C. A space below C would be B, and a line below B would be A, working in reverse musical alphabetic order. Let's see what this would look like on the staff itself.

|------------------------------------------------------F(ine)------------------|
|                                                 E                            |
|-----------------------------------------D(oes)-------------------------------|
|                                    C                                         |
|-----------------------------B(oy)--------------------------------------------|
|                        A                                                     |
|-----------------G(ood)-------------------------------------------------------|
|         F                                                                    |
|---E(very)--------------------------------------------------------------------|
            D
           -C-
            B
           -A-

So, the notes D and A, respectively, the fourth and fifth strings open on the guitar in standard tuning, would look like this in standard notation:

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
o (d)

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
---
-o- (a)

Following the same rules, the sixth string, E, in standard tuning, would look like this:

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
             ---
             ---
             ---
              o

An E major chord in standard tuning would look like this in standard notation:

|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    o                                                                   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                        |
|----o-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                        |
|---#o-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                        |
|----o-------------------------------------------------------------------|

    ---
     o
    ---

    ---
     o

The symbol # on the second line indicates a sharp, because that note in an E chord is not just a G, but a G sharp, that is, a G that is a half step higher than a G. Don't worry about this now. I will post a page explaining sharps and flats in the very near future. The same chord in tab would look like this:

|---------0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------1----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------2----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------2----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Tab is easier right? I know. But, hey, anything worth knowing is worth a little of your time and brain power, right?

I know this is a lot to absorb in one lesson, which is why I am not going to get into the various note values (timing) or sharps, flats and the relative "distance" between notes in major and minor scales here. Just try to grasp the names of the lines and spaces of the treble clef music staff in standard notation, and their relationships to the guitar in standard tuning and you will be doing fine. There's plenty of time to learn the rest of the stuff when you get this down.

I know you can do it. I know you can learn to read music in standard notation! I'll help in any way I can, including more pages on note values, time and key signatures, sharps and flats, and other features of standard notation. Stay with me, and I'll get you there. And as always, enjoy playing. That's what it is all about!

If you find all of this too frustrating, just forget it, and stick with tab. But for those of you who want to learn standard notation, I'm here for you!

As always, email with any comments or questions at:

(See home page).

To paraphrase a popular TV sitcom psychiatrist, "I'm listening."

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