Piano Theory 2-15

Music Notation
  • The following notes are the most common notes used when first learning to read music.
  • Each note determines how long it is to be held before playing the next note.
  • For example, if we play a semibreve, say the D, as we strike the note, we simultaneously count  “1”  and continue to hold the note down whilst we finish counting  “2”    “3”    “4”  (total of 4 beats).
Fig22MusicNotes1
  • A semibreve (4 beats) equals 4 crotchets (1 + 1 + 1 + 1).
  • A semibreve also equals 2 minims (2 + 2).
  • So a minim (2 beats) equals 2 crotchets (1 + 1).