Time Signatures:
Rhythm in music is very important. Nearly every song has its own rhythm that is shown and controlled in how many beats a measure has. The number of beats a measure holds is shown in the beginning of the song in the way that is shown below. The most used time signatures that are used in music are shown and explained below.
Simple time signatures: The numbers show the length of a measure. The number in the bottom is shows the value of note used, in this case it is “quarters”. The number on top shows the amount of notes the measure needs to hold. A three means that the measure is as long as three quarter notes would be.
Common time: This symbol has the same function as the simple time signature above. It does count as 4 and 4. Which means the measure holds the value of four notes with the value of an quarter.
Ala breve or cut time: This stands for a 2 and 2 time. Two notes with a value of a half note equals one measure.
Metronome mark: This notation is used to show the speed of beats. If the number gets bigger the beats get faster or you could say the break between beats gets shorter.
Note Relationships:
Tie: Two notes tied together are played as one single note. A tie and a slur have the same appearance but a tie only connects notes of the same type.
Slur. If two notes that are not the same kind are connected by are slur they are played in legato.
Glissando or Portamento. Its an uninterrupted glide from one note to an other. Some instruments like a violin or the human voice can do this without really touching the notes within the glide (Portamento). Some other instruments like the piano need to play all the notes in between in a very fast way to produce a glide (Glissando).
Triplet: This is used if there are notes in a bar that would normally occupy too much space. They are played in a way so they actually fit in the bar. The notes shown left are three quarters that are actually played as two quarters. The same can happen with five or more notes.
This is called a chord. It is usually three notes that are written above each other and played in the same time.
Arpeggiated chord. The notes are not played simultaneously but after each other in a very fast way. That is the reason this is also called a “broken chord”.
Dynamics:
Pianississimo. Extremely soft and quiet music.
Pianissimo. Very soft and quiet music.
Piano. Soft and quiet music.
Mezzo-piano. Moderately soft. Louder than piano.
Mezzo-piano. Moderately loud. More quiet than forte.
Forte. Loud music.
Fortissimo. Very loud music.
Forte Fortissimo. Extremely loud music.
Sforzando. Rapidly loud music that turns loud and quiet. Like a burst of loud music. This can be meant for a whole passage.
Fortepiano. The same as the Sforzando but only applied to one note.
All the pictures of this article are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_symbols.
