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S C O N C I S E G U I D E TO R E A D I N G M U S I C
PITCH
Treble clef:

Bass clef:

REGISTER
8va written above the music indicates to play that passage an octave higher
than written (one hand only - not both).

8vb written below the music indicates to play that passage an octave lower
than written (one hand only - not both).

KEY SIGNATURES
Pay close attention to the key signature at the beginning of the music. The flats or
sharps specified in the key signature will remain in place throughout the piece of
music - unless specified otherwise.

AC C I D E N TA L S - (sharps, flats, naturals) appear immediately before the note to be

altered:
means to raise the note by a half-step
means to lower the note by a half-step
means to play a white note and ignore a flat or sharp stated earlier in the bar, or in the key signature.

All flat, sharp and natural signs stay in place for the remainder of the bar. So if you see an F#, all following
F's within the bar should also be played as F#s.

T I M E S I G NATURE
The time signature is written as 2 numbers stacked vertically at the
beginning of the music. The top number is most important and
specifies how many beats are in a bar (usually 4, sometimes 3 if
playing a Waltz). The bottom note specifies the length of those beats -
2 means half-note, 4 means quarter-note, 8 means eighth-note, etc.

RHYTHM
Note lengths:

Rest lengths:
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D OT T E D R H Y T H M S - a dot placed directly after a note (or rest) means to

increase the duration of that note (or rest) by an extra half.

O R N A M E N TA L N OT E S - a small solitary eighth note with a diagonal line

through it indicates to play a very short note immediately before the main
note.

PAUSE SIG NS - a half circle with a dot in the middle placed above a note
means to pause the music on that note for a brief moment.

DYNAMICS
While playing through the music, you will
encounter a variety of dynamic markings
(bold letters between the staves) which
indicate how loudly or quietly to play:

pp - !(pianissimo) play as quietly as possible

p - !(piano) play quietly
mp - !(mezzo-piano) play moderately quietly
mf - !(mezzo-forte) play moderately loud
f -! (forte) play loud
ff - !(fortissimo) play very loud - (not found in my music).

Horizontal hairpin symbols indicate:

crescendo - get louder over time !! diminuendo - get quieter over time.

A RT I C U L ATION
Each note and chord can be played in a variety of ways - long, short, emphasized, rippled ... or normal.

A dot placed directly above or below a note indicates to play 'staccato ' - which means as short as
possible.
A horizontal line placed directly above or below a note indicates to play tenuto - which means hold the
note down for as long as possible until the next note must be played.

A > symbol placed directly above or below a note indicates to play an 'accent ' - which
means to emphasize the note by playing it louder than normal.
A wiggly vertical line between staves indicates to 'ripple ' the chord - which means to
play the chord one note at a time - bottom to top - with a slight delay between each note.
A great way to emphasize a sweet chord, rather than playing all notes at the same time.
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PHRASING
A curved line above or below a series of notes
indicates a 'phrase ' - for a wind instrument or
singer, a phrase would be sung in one breath.
Play these notes on the piano in the same way,
taking a break for air before the next phrase.

Similar in appearance to phrases are 'ties '. A tie indicates to hold a note over to the next note (usually
divided by a bar line). A tie will usually only bridge the gap between 2 notes, whereas phrases often cover
larger series of notes.

PEDALING
Horizontal lines beneath the left hand stave indicate
that you should hold down the sustain pedal with your
right foot. Change the pedal every time the line breaks.

FINGERING
Suggested fingering is provided for tricky sections.
Numbers 1 2 3 4 5 refer to thumb (1) through to pinky (5) for both
right hand and left hand.

C H OR D S Y M BOL S
Chord symbols are written above the
bar, and appear where the chord
starts (usually at the beginning of the
bar). The written chord symbol lasts
until a new chord is specified.

There are many ways a chord symbol can be voiced and the player has complete freedom to choose how
to voice each chord symbol. To learn more about chord voicings, visit www.PracticeRoomHero.com.

FORM
Most jazz songs start with an intro. The intro is played once only. Any subsequent musical repeats will
skip the intro, starting again from the A section (marked letter A).

A standard jazz form consists of Main Melody - Solos - Main Melody (or partial repeat) to end.

R E H E A R S A L L E T T E R S - appear above the music and mark different sections within

the piece. Directions are given explaining where to go at the end of each section.

R E P E AT S I G N S - appear as a double bar line with two dots inside the repeating section.

Often the repeating section of music will end slightly differently the 2nd time its played - (for variation).
When this happens, two numbered lines appear above the music: the number 1 line is only played the
first time. The number 2 line is played the second time (skipping the number 1 section).