Parts of the staff
Before you start reading notes, you need to know HOW to figure out your notes and rhythms. It is organized like a new language!
How to read music
We only use seven letters from the English alphabet. I call this the music alphabet, and it repeats over and over.
You will need to memorize the names of the notes on the staff. Here are a few ways to remember: the lines make the mnemonic "Ernie gives Bert dead fish," and the spaces spell the word "face."
If you have a way that helps you remember the lines and spaces of the treble clef, use it! Here are some more examples, thanks to Plank Road Publishing.
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Note duration (aka - rhythm)
These are just a few of the notes you will encounter as a beginning trumpet player. Each different note represents a different duration, or number of beats, to hold the tone.
There are also rests, which tell us how long the silence lasts between notes. Rests are as important as notes!