A Complete List of Music Symbols With Their Meaning

From articulation to rhythm, musical notes are written in symbols or easily distinguishable marks. Each of these musical notes has a pitch, duration, and intensity. Having knowledge about these marks is beneficial when it comes to reading and composing melodies. This Melodyful article will give you the meaning of music symbols employed in Western music.

The mnemonics “Every Good Boy Does Fine” and “All Cows Eat Grass,” helps kids memorize the notes on the lines of the treble clef and the spaces of the bass clef, respectively.

Sheet music, or music notation as it is known, employs a series of symbols and marks that pertain to certain notes, pitch, and tone. Music notations are visually represented symbols, which often include both modern and ancient musical symbols.

Modern music notation which is commonly used by musicians of different genres throughout the world is said to have their origins in European classical music. This popular system uses a five-line staff to place the musical notes. Sheet music is used as a record or a guide to perform or compose a piece of music.

To be able to read this sheet music, one has to study the musical notations, for which, one has to be acquainted with the symbols used to represent the notes. Given below is a list of the musical symbols employed to write sheet music.

The Staff

The staff  or stave forms the very basis of sheet music. Notes are written on a staff of five lines consisting of four spaces between them. The staff is counted from the lowest line upwards. The lines and the spaces correspond to pitches of a eight-note musical scale depending on the defining clef.

Ledger or Leger lines

Ledger or leger lines extend the staff to pitches that fall below it. It is a short line added above or below the staff. Ledger lines are generally placed behind note heads and are spaced at the same distance as the lines of the staff. Range of notes that go beyond the two staffs are put on extra short lines or between the spaces formed between them.

Bars and Measures

Vertical lines called bars are used to connect the upper and lower staffs of the grand staff. The vertical bars are used to divide the staff into measures.

A single bar line is used to separate a measure. Each bar or measure refers to a segment of time that is defined by a given number of beats and note value. To make it easier to understand, the term bar  refers only to the vertical line, while the term measure  refers to the beats that are contained between two bars.

A double barline  is used to separate two sections of music. A double bar line is also used to signify changes in key signature, time signature or major change in style and tempo. A dotted bar is used to sub-divide long measures of a complex meter into shorter segments.

A bold double bar or the end line is used to indicate the end of a movement in a piece of music. It is used to signify the end of an entire composition.

Brackets

A bracket is generally used to indicate the connection between the staff of two or more separate instruments. To say the least, it is used to connect two or more lines of music that are to be played simultaneously by multiple instruments.

Accolade

The brace on the other hand connects two or more lines of music played simultaneously by a single instrument. Also called an accolade, the brace connects multiple parts for a single instrument (the right and left-hand stave of a piano―for instance is connected using a brace).

Clef

The stave, essentially, is mere lines; however, the presence of the clef marking the beginning of the stave is what assigns a certain pitch to the notes. The clef, in other words, helps to accurately relate to the pitch of the musical note placed on or between specific lines on the stave. In short, a clef is used to fix the position of certain high and low notes on the stave.

G Clef or the Treble Clef

Originally resembling the capital letter ‘G’, the treble clef fixes the second line as the note G on the stave. The treble clef denotes the high notes on the stave, and is commonly used for most modern vocal music.

F Clef or the Bass Clef

The bass clef fixes the fourth line as the note ‘F’ on the bass stave. The two dots placed above and below the fourth line from the bottom of the staff is the pitch F. Specifically used in choral music, the bass clef represents the bass and baritone voices.

C Clef or Alto and Tenor Clef

The alto and tenor clef fixes the third line on the stave as the middle C. In modern notation, it is used for the viola, and is often used when composing music using the bassoon, cello, trombone, and double bass. It is a movable clef, and when it points to the fourth line, it is called a tenor clef.

Octave Clef

The octave clef is nothing but a modified version of either the treble or the bass clef. The number 8 or 15 is affixed either to the top or bottom of the clef to raise or lower the intended pitch by one or two octaves, respectively. Generally, you will find a treble clef with an eight below in notes written for the guitar and the octave mandolin.

Tablature

Used specifically for stringed instruments, the tablature or Tab is often written instead of a clef. Like the neutral clef, the Tab clef is not a true clef, but a mere symbol used instead of a clef. Tablature generally involves writing notes on six lines when writing notes for a regular six-string guitar.

Neutral Clef

The neutral clef is used while composing musical notes for non-pitched percussion instruments like drums and cymbals. It is simply used as a convention to indicate that the lines and spaces on the stave are assigned to a percussion instrument with no precise pitch. Generally, it is not a compulsion for the neutral clef to be placed on a regular five-stave, it can be placed on a single stave or line.

Notes and Restsc

Notes represent the length of time of a particular pitch. Each note stands for a particular number of beats. In written music, the length of a note is shown by its shape. When there is no note sounding, a rest  is written, and the duration is shown by its shape. To make things easier, we have classified notes on the basis of their relation with the whole note or a semi breve.

Whole Note or Semibreve

A hollow oval note head represents a whole note or a semibreve. The length of a full note is equivalent to four beats in a 4/4 time. A whole note receives 4 counts, which means, you have to hold the note for its full value.

A whole rest corresponds to a whole note, which means, the rest period is equivalent to the duration of the musical note. A whole rest is denoted by a filled-in rectangle hanging under the second line from the top of the staff.

Notes lesser than a whole note

Half Note or Minim

A half note or minim is played for half the duration of a semibreve. In other words, a minim receives 2 counts, allowing the musician to hold the note for 2 counts instead of 4. The minim, like the semibreve, is a hollowed oval with a stem or tail attached. The stem or the tail of the minim can either be drawn upwards or downwards depending on the placement of the note on the stave. When a note falls below the middle line of the stave the stem is drawn upwards from the right side of the note, while the stems drops down from the left side when the note falls above the middle line of the stave.

A half rest corresponds to a half note or a minim. A half note is represented by a filled-in rectangle sitting above the third or the middle line of the staff.

Quarter Note or Crotchet

A quarter note is half of a minim, and one-fourth of a full note. It is represented by a filled-in oval. Like the minim, a quarter note has a tail or a stem attached to the note head, which points upwards or downwards depending on how the note falls in a musical piece of work. The note head orientation for the minim and crotchet largely depends on the position of the stem.

The crotchet rest corresponds to a quarter note. Like the quarter note, the crotchet rest receives one count or beat in a bar of 4/4, in a musical piece of work. It is represented like a filled-in squiggle.

Quaver or Eight Note

A quaver note is played for one eighth the duration of a whole note or semibreve. It is represented with a filled-in oval with a stem accompanied with a flag. The flag is always positioned on the right side of the stem. However, a note placed above the middle line of the staff will have the flag pointing upwards and downwards if the note falls below the middle line ensuring the curve of the flag is towards the right. Multiple eight notes falling next to each other are connected with a beam instead of the regular flag.

The quaver rest corresponds to the eight note, and is represented with a filled-in curlicue flag just like their note heads. The eight-note has a single curly flag that rests on the left side of a slanting stem.

Semiquaver or Sixteenth Note

A sixteenth note, also known as a semiquaver is half of a quaver. It is played for one sixteenth the duration of a whole note. It is represented by a filled-in oval note head with a straight stem―like a quaver―with two flags. Multiple semiquaver notes falling one after the other are beamed with two horizontal lines.

Like the quaver rest, the semi quaver rest is denoted with curly flags resting on a slanted stem. The number of curly flags is in proportion to the number of flags adorning the note head.

Thirty-second Note

A thirty-second note or a demisemiquaver is played for half the duration of a semiquaver. It is represented by a filled-in quarter note with three flags on the right side of the stem. Multiple demisemiquaver notes falling one after the other are beamed together with three equidistant horizontal bars.

The demisemiquaver rest consists of a slanting line with three curlicue flags attached to the top of the stem.

Sixty-fourth Note

A sixty-fourth note, also called a hemidemisemiquaver note, lasts for just about 1/64 of the duration of a semibreve. In other words, it is half of a demisemiquaver note and one eighth that of a quaver note. It is represented by a filled-in note head with four flags attached to a straight stem. Multiple notes are beamed together with four horizontal bars. It is important to note that music notes and rests as short as these are occasionally found.

The hemidemisemiquaver rest has four curlicue flags attached to a slanting stem.

Hundred twenty-eighth Note

A semihemidemisemiquaver, or a hundred twenty-eighth note, is relatively unknown and lasts for 1/128 of the duration of a semibreve. Used to represent brief, rapid sections in extremely slow movements in a piece of music. Five flags adorn the stem of the basic quarter note, and multiple notes are beamed with five horizontal bars.

Five curlicue flags attached to the slanting stem represents the semidemihemisemiquaver or quasihemidemisemiquaver rest.

Two Hundred fifty-sixth Note

Played for 1/256 of the duration of a single whole note, the demisemihemidemisemiquaver or the two hundred fifty-sixth note is used very rarely in musical notations. It is represented in music notes with a filled-in note head with six flags attached to the main stem. It is also known as the semigarrapatea note, and it is used to denote rapid sections of music.

The 256th rest is denoted by six curlicue flags adorning a slanting stem.

Notes greater than a whole note

Double Whole Note

Also known as a breve or a double note, it is twice as long as a semibreve. It is the longest note value that is still in use in modern music notation. Like the whole note, it is represented by a hollow oval with double stems on either sides.

A double whole rest is represented by a filled-in rectangle that spans the vertical space between the second and third line from the top of the musical staff. Like the notes, the breve rest denotes a silence that is twice that of a semibreve rest.

Quadruple Whole Note

Also known as a longa or a sextuple whole note, is four to six times as long as a double whole note. The modern form of the longa can alternatively be written as a semibreve with two stems on either side―one stem is longer than the other―like the longa note with the stem facing upwards.

A longa rest associated with the note is represented by a vertical filled-in rectangle.

Maxima or Octuple Whole Note

Used specifically in early music, the maxima or the octuple longa is considered to be a rare musical note that is twice as long as the longa, or eight to twelve times as long as a semibreve. Incidentally, the duplex longa or maxima occurs only in instances of early music. It resembles a quadruple whole note, except that the horizontal bars are slightly longer than the longa notes.

The maxima rest is symbolized by two longa rests, or the more modern alternative for it is a filled-in longa rests.

Beamed Notes

Beams or horizontal bars are used to connect multiple quaver notes together. The beams join the tails or stems of two or more quaver notes together to form a beat. The number of beams joining quaver notes corresponds to the number of flags adorning the single quaver note of shorter value. For example, two or more quaver notes will have a single bar or beam joining them, while a sixty-fourth quaver note with three flags will have three beams attaching the tails together.

Dotted Notes

A dot is placed to the right of a note head to lengthen the duration of the beat of the particular note. For example, a single dot placed next to a minim or a quarter note increases the beat of the note to that of a minim plus a quaver note―equaling 3 beats instead of half. Additional dots are used to lengthen the previous dot instead of the note. So, if a half note has two dots, it is equivalent to a half note plus a quarter note, which is added to a quaver note. In short, half the value is added to the note head using a dot.

Multi-measure Rest

Also called a gathered rest or a multi-bar rest, it is a horizontal line placed on the middle stave with serifs on either side. It is used to simplify musical notation, and to indicate the number of measures in a resting part. It is used to denote rest of more than one bar in the same meter. The number printed above the stave corresponds to the length or duration of the rest of the particular note.

Breaks

Breath Mark

A breath mark or a luftpause is represented by a filled-in single inverted comma placed above the musical staff. For a singer or a performer playing a wind instrument, it translates as an instruction to pause for breath. For those playing non-wind instruments, it is an instruction to take a slight pause. For example, in the case of a bowed instrument, the breath mark is indication for the player to lift the bow and play the next note with either a downward or upward bow. The breath mark works just like a comma does in a sentence.

Caesura

Like a breath mark, the caesura indicates a brief pause or break in the piece of music. It is placed between notes or measures before or above the lines of a stave. It is represented with two slanting parallel lines often referred to as railroad tracks or tram lines. The break or interruption in music can be of any length, and the time often depends on the discretion of the conductor.

Accidentals

Accidentals are notes that are used in musical notations to symbolize notes that fall between two main notes. The accidentals either raise or lower the note it precedes by a semitone. In other words, the notes placed before the corresponding note heads help raise or lower the pitch by half a tone.

Flat

Also known as a soft B or a bemolle, the flat note lowers a natural note by half a step. In music notation, a flat note lowers the pitch of a note by a semitone and is denoted by a stylized lowercase ‘b’. For example, a flat note placed before a natural B note makes it a B flat represented by B♭. The order of the flats in key signature notation are B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, and F♭. An easier way to remember this is with the mnemonic: Before Eating A Doughnut Get Coffee First; or Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father.

Double Flat

Double flats are, in reality, two flats that reduce the natural note by a whole step or by two semitones. It is represented by two flat notes placed next to each other. It can also be written as integrated stylized letter ‘b’ written in the lower case.

Sharp

Contrary to a flat note, a sharp note placed before a natural note raises the keynote by half a tone. A sharp note is represented with a hash sign (♯) placed before the natural note. In short, a sharp note raises the frequency of a natural note by a small musical interval. The order of sharps in a key signature notation are F♯, C♯, G ♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, and B♯, which can be remembered by the mnemonic Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle.

Double Sharp

Like flat notes, sharps also have a double sharp that raise the tone of a natural note by an entire semitone. It is represented by a horizontally placed cross. When placed before a semitone, the double sharp increases the value of the note by a whole step. For example, an F with double sharp would be equivalent to a G natural.

Natural

A natural sign (♮) is used in musical notation to cancel a preceding sharp, double sharp, flat, or double flat note employed to lower or raise the keynote in a musical piece. It is used to signify a natural note which is neither sharp nor flat. In the very sense, the natural sign is used to cancel out the previous notes and represents an unaltered pitch of a given note.

Key Signatures

In written music, key signatures stand for a set of sharp of flat symbols placed on the stave. Key signatures are written adjacent to a clef placed at the beginning of a line of musical notation. The key signature is used to define the diatonic scale in a piece of music without the need of accidentals being employed for individual notes.

Flat Key Signatures

A flat key signature lowers the pitch of a corresponding line of a defining major or minor key by a semitone. The number of flats in the key signature varies depending on the natural note being taken. For example, the number of flats on a C major key is 0, while that on the Cb major key is 7.

Sharp Key Signatures

A sharp key signature is used to raise the pitch of an entire line of a defining major or minor key by an entire semitone. Like the flat key signature, the number of sharps on the stave indicate the keynote being played in a piece of music. The number of sharps varies from 0 to 7 sharps from the C major to the C sharp (C♯) major key, respectively.

Quarter Tones

A quarter tone music divides an octave into twenty-four equal intervals, that is better understood as twenty-four equal steps or tones. Quarter tone notation employs a new set of accidental signs or marks that add a microtonal value alongside a conventional sharp, flat, or natural note.

Time Signatures

Normal music has a regular pulse or throb which is termed as beats. These beats are grouped into regular groups to form the time or meter of the music. Time signatures are used to establish the number of beats in each uniformed section or measures.

Metronome Mark

The metronome mark is a unit typically used to measure the tempo of a piece of music. As shown in the image, the metronome mark is indicative of the number of crotchet or quarter notes to be played per minute. In a compound time signature, the beat is made up of three note durations, which is when a dotted quarter note is used to indicate the beats per minute.

Note Relationships

In a musical composition, notes are often grouped together to show the position of the beats in a bar. For a piece of work to be called music, the notes need to be synchronized and must fall smoothly in place. This harmony is brought about by the introduction of different note relationships or marks used to determine the relationship of one note with the other.

Accents

Accents or articulations are used to specify how an individual note is to be performed within a musical passage. The articulation affects the transition or continuity on a single note or between multiple notes and sounds.

Fermata

Also known as a pause, or a grand pause, the fermata is used to add length to a note or rest. Although the duration of the pause depends on the music conductor, it is most often considered to be twice as long as a regular pause. It can also be placed at the end or the middle of a piece of movement.

Ornaments

Ornaments are embellishments or musical flourishes used to decorate a line in a musical piece. They are often used to modify the pitch pattern of individual notes in a single line of music.

Trill

A trill or a shake, is a rapid alternation between an indicated note and the one immediately above it. In short, it is used to alternate between a note above the actual written note, sometimes requiring the player to end a note below the written note.

Turn

Marked by a mirrored letter ‘S’, lying on its side, the turn, or gruppetto as it is known, indicates a sequence of adjacent notes in the particular scale to be played. When placed directly above the note head, it implies that the auxiliary note be played before the principal note followed by the lower auxiliary note. Which means, you play a higher notes followed by the main note and play the immediate lower note and return to the principal note. When placed to the right of the note, you play the principal note before playing the turn sequence. In short, when the note is placed to the right you end up playing a quintuplet.

Inverted Turn

An inverted turn resembles a turn with a vertical line running through it. It can also be written as a vertically mirrored letter ‘S’. The sequence this sign indicates is the reverse of the turn ornament. It means, the player starts with the lower auxiliary note followed by the principal note and the higher auxiliary note, finally ending on the principal note.

Repetition and Codas

Tremolo

Also known as the tremolando, it is symbolized by strokes through the stem of a note. Simply put, it indicates that a note be rapidly repeated to create a tremble or a shuddering effect depending on the instrument being used.