Music Notation Terminology

The letters of the musical alphabet.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Means "beats per minute"

BPM

Vertical Lines that divide the staff.

Barlines

The name of the symbol that is used to show low notes on a musical staff.

Bass Clef

The steady pulse of music is known as what?

Beat

The symbol means to alter a note one half step lower.

Flat

Two sets of 5 lines put together with a bass and treble clef.

Grand Staff

Located at the beginning of each piece of music, this series of sharps or flats describes what type of notes should be played in a piece and what note is the "tonic" or home base note of the piece.

Key Signature

Barlines divide the staff into these spaces called...

Measures

Organized Sound

Music

The written form of music.

Notation

This term is used for notes which have the same letter name but appear on different places of the musical staff.

Octaves

This term means how high or low a sound is.

Pitch

This type of music symbol means to be SILENT.

Rest

A steady, repetitive combination of notes and rests in a song.

Rhythm

This symbol means to alter a note one half step higher.

Sharp

The five lines that we write music on.

Staff

This term means how fast or slow the beat is.

Tempo

Located at the beginning of each piece of music, these two numbers show how many beats are in a measure of music and what note value is equal to one beat.

Time Signature

The name of the symbol that is used to show high notes on a musical staff.

Treble Clef