--- title: "Reading Musical Notation" description: "Read staff notation and other ways of writing music down: note names on the stave, note and rest lengths (crotchets, quavers, minims), and graphic scores; follow a written melody and match notation to" canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/arts-and-music/reading-musical-notation-mt_YrnMXGEnk- source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/arts-and-music/reading-musical-notation-mt_YrnMXGEnk-.md retrieved: 2026-10-19 --- > **Agent view.** This is the Markdown twin of the page, for tools and assistants. > When to use this site, and the call that answers each job: https://lightmysky.com/agent-instructions.md > API description (OpenAPI 3.1): https://lightmysky.com/openapi.json · Authentication: https://lightmysky.com/auth.md > Pricing: https://lightmysky.com/pricing.md · Catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms.txt · Full catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms-full.txt > Every machine-readable file on this domain: https://lightmysky.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json > Ask for Markdown with `Accept: text/markdown`, a `.md` address, or `?mode=agent`. # Reading Musical Notation Read staff notation and other ways of writing music down: note names on the stave, note and rest lengths (crotchets, quavers, minims), and graphic scores; follow a written melody and match notation to what is heard Subject: Arts & Music · Area: Music · Ages 7 to 11 Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/arts-and-music/reading-musical-notation-mt_YrnMXGEnk- ## Ready when they can - Name notes on the treble stave and explain that higher positions mean higher sounds - Identify note and rest lengths (e.g. a minim lasts twice as long as a crotchet) - Follow a simple score while listening and point to where the music has got to, or match a short rhythm they hear to the right notation ## Lesson: Reading Musical Notation A stave has five lines and four spaces. Notes sit on lines or in spaces. A clef gives their note names. With plain notes in the same clef, a higher position means a higher pitch. Height does not show loudness. In treble clef, read lines from bottom to top as E, G, B, D, F. Read spaces as F, A, C, E. Note names go A to G, then repeat. Moving up one line-or-space position moves to the next letter. *(drawing: This memory list names the lines from bottom to top. It is not a stave drawing.)* Count a crotchet as one beat here. A crotchet has a filled oval and stem: 1 beat. A minim has an open oval and stem: 2 beats. A semibreve has an open oval without a stem: 4 beats. A quaver has a filled oval, stem and flag, or shares a beam: half a beat. *(drawing: A minim lasts twice as long as a crotchet. Two quavers last as long as one crotchet.)* Add note lengths to find the total. A minim and a crotchet last 2 + 1 = 3 beats. Rests mark silence. A minim rest is a small solid rectangle sitting on the middle stave line: two quiet beats here. A crotchet rest looks like a short zigzag with a curved tail: one quiet beat. Keep counting during a rest. *(drawing: This pattern lasts four beats. Keep the steady count through its two quiet beats.)* A quaver rest has one dot attached to a sloping stroke. It lasts half a beat here. Follow written music from left to right. Point to the note or rest happening now. Keep your finger there for its whole length, then move to the next symbol. *(drawing: Hum the notes for 1, 1, 2 and 1 beats. These four notes last five beats. Hold the minim's sound for both its beats.)* A graphic score uses pictures or marks to guide sounds. Its key explains their meanings. A line might mean a long sound, but check the key. To match a written rhythm to one you hear, compare the sound lengths in order. The same number of sounds does not guarantee a match. **Recap.** Height on the stave shows pitch, note shapes show length, and following the page while you listen ties reading and hearing together. ## Practice 8 questions on this page, each with its working shown. ## Needs first - [Listening to Music](https://lightmysky.com/learn/arts-and-music/listening-to-music-mt_sVUxOvaDOO) ## Opens up - [Scales, Keys and Musical Mood](https://lightmysky.com/learn/arts-and-music/scales-keys-and-musical-mood-mt_9XMu4MF7_t)