Minor
Gloomy, sad-sounding notes characterise a minor
scale or key.
N
Natural
An accidental on a note that cancels out any
previous sharps or flats.
Notes
These are the building blocks of music, showing
you which note to play, at what pitch and for how
long. Each type of note has a specific duration, for
example a semibreve/whole note has the same
duration as two minims/half notes or four crotchets/
quarter notes.
O
Octave
The name given to the interval between two of
the same notes. Look at Middle C, then the next C
above it. The distance between those two Cs makes
up an octave.
Ornaments
Symbols on notes to decorate the melody. An
example is a trill, which tells the musician to flutter
between two notes to embellish the tune.
P
Pitch
Put simply, pitch refers to the highness or lowness
of a note. It is actually about the note’s frequency,
which you will learn more about as you piano
playing progresses.
Q
R
Repeats
Instructions in the notation to go back and re-play
specific phrases. Repeats include repeat barlines and
also the coda symbol (circle with a cross through it)
accompanied by the phrase al coda and other terms
such as D.C and D.S.
Rests
Indicate a period of time that the musician must
not play any notes. The rests come under the same
duration classification as notes, for example a minim
rest has the same duration as a minim/half note.
S
Scales
A group of notes with different pitches, usually from
one octave, that are played in order one by one up
or down a keyboard.Sharp
An accidental that looks like a hash symbol (#),
which alters a note by slightly increasing the pitch.Stave
The five horizontal lines that notes are drawn on,
both on the lines and in the spaces.T
Te mp o
Italian for ‘time’, the tempo dictates how slow or
fast a song should be played. It is shown at the
beginning of the notation, and can either be in
super-precise Beats Per Minute (BPM) or indicated
using one of many Italian terms that are more
interpretive. These include:t"OEBOUF
means ‘at a walking pace’t7JWBDF
this means ‘lively’t(SBWF
which means ‘slowly’5JNFTJHOBUVSF
The time signature of a piece of music looks like
a big fraction at the beginning of the stave, after
the clef and key signature. It dictates the rhythm
of the tune. The top number tells a musician how
many beats there are in one bar of the music. Thebottom number indicated the length of the beat.
For example, in 4/4 time, there are four crotchets/
quarter notes in each bar. In 6/8 time, there are six
quavers/eighth notes in each bar.U
V
X
Y
Z
i5IFUFNQPEJDUBUFTIPXTMPXPSGBTUBTPOH
TIPVMECFQMBZFEBOEDBOFJUIFSCFJO#1.PS
JOEJDBUFEVTJOHBO*UBMJBOUFSNw
Ty p e of res t Note Length of restCFBUTCFBUTCFBUBCFBU