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Music symbols and terms: a glossary

A plain-English reference to the symbols and terms you are most likely to meet in sheet music. Each lesson on this site goes deeper into its own topic; this page is for quick lookups.

The staff and clefs

Staff (stave)

The five horizontal lines that notes are written on. Higher on the staff means higher in pitch.

Treble clef (G clef)

Curls around the second line, marking it as G above middle C. Used for higher instruments and the right hand in piano music. See treble clef.

Bass clef (F clef)

Its two dots surround the fourth line, marking F below middle C. Used for lower instruments and the left hand. See bass clef.

Alto and tenor clef (C clefs)

A clef shaped like a bracketed B, whose centre marks middle C. Alto clef (middle line) is used for viola; tenor clef (fourth line) for high cello, bassoon and trombone parts.

Grand staff

A treble and bass staff joined by a brace, used for piano. See the grand staff.

Ledger lines

Short extra lines above or below the staff for notes outside its range. See ledger lines.

Bar line, measure (bar)

Vertical lines divide the staff into measures, each holding the number of beats in the time signature.

Double bar line

Two thin lines mark the end of a section; a thin and a thick line mark the end of the piece.

Notes and rhythm

Whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth note

Note values from longest to shortest. Each is half the length of the one before. In the UK: semibreve, minim, crotchet, quaver, semiquaver. See rhythm basics.

Rest

A silence of a set length. Each note value has a matching rest.

Dot

Written after a note or rest, adds half its value. See dotted notes and ties.

Tie

A curve joining two notes of the same pitch: play once and hold for both.

Beam

A thick line joining the stems of eighth notes and shorter, usually grouped by beat.

Triplet

Three notes played in the time of two, marked with a 3.

Time signature

Two numbers at the start: beats per measure, and which note gets the beat. See time signatures.

Common time, cut time

A C means 4/4. A C with a vertical line means 2/2.

Pitch

Sharp, flat, natural

Raise a note a half step, lower it a half step, or cancel either. See accidentals.

Key signature

Sharps or flats at the start of each line that apply all the way through. See key signatures.

Interval

The distance between two notes, counted in letter names: a second, third, fourth and so on. See intervals.

8va, 8vb

Play an octave higher (8va, above the notes) or lower (8vb, below) than written, until the dotted line ends.

Chord, triad, arpeggio

Notes sounded together; a three-note chord built in thirds; the notes of a chord played one after another. See reading chords.

Dynamics and expression

p, mp, mf, f

Soft, moderately soft, moderately loud, loud. pp and ff are very soft and very loud. See dynamics and articulation.

Crescendo, diminuendo

Gradually louder, gradually softer. Shown with words or opening and closing wedges (hairpins).

Staccato

A dot over or under the note head: short and detached.

Legato, slur

Smooth and connected. A slur is a curve over notes of different pitch.

Accent

A wedge (>) above or below a note: emphasise it.

Fermata

A curve over a dot: hold the note longer than its value.

Tempo

Metronome mark

For example ♩ = 80: eighty quarter-note beats per minute.

Adagio, andante, moderato, allegro, presto

Slow, walking pace, moderate, fast, very fast.

Ritardando (rit.), rallentando (rall.)

Gradually slower.

Accelerando (accel.)

Gradually faster.

A tempo

Return to the original tempo.

Repeats and navigation

Repeat signs

Two dots beside a double bar line. Play the section between the signs twice (or from the beginning, if there is no opening sign).

First and second endings

Brackets marked 1. and 2. Play the first ending the first time, then repeat and skip to the second ending.

D.C. (da capo)

Go back to the beginning.

D.S. (dal segno)

Go back to the sign (𝄋).

Fine

“End”: stop here after a D.C. or D.S.

Coda

A closing section. “To Coda” (with the ⊕ symbol) means jump there on the final time through.