How often do we sit down and listen to a piece of music, and only to wish that we could play as good as that? And yet to read the basics of music is actually quite a simple thing. This article is for those of us who have little or no knowledge of music reading. And hopefully this will help to build our appreciation even more when we do listen to music being played well by someone else.

Anyone is capable of learning to play and read music, it doesn’t matter how old we are.

The first thing that we need is the Desire to learn to read music, especially if you want to learn to play an instrument as well. Also we need to remember that it is something that will take a lot of work on our part. Yes, it is not just a mere phase that we are going through, it takes sometimes years to perfect an instrument even to read music expertly.

We also need to remember that the difference between being able to read music or play a musical instrument is the same as being a spectator at a sporting event or actually participating in the sport. Yes once it is in your blood, it is there to stay.

To learn to play a musical instrument there a several ways in which you can do this. One way is by first learning to thoroughly read music and then learning the instrument. This method can eventually discourage new musicians as so much time is spent on the theory aspect rather than the practical.

The other way of learning a musical isntrument is a more practical hands on approach, learning to play more by ear instead of theory. This method is used by many famous musicians today, amongst these is B.B.King who has been said to be on of the best guitar players in the world, and yet when he started he could not read a note of music.

So what are the basics in reading music?

The horizontal lines in music are called the staff. The give vital information as to what notes are played.

The vertical lines that we see are called the bar. The are vital for timing information.

At the top left hand corner of the music we see what are called time signatures.The upper number shows the number of beats (or counts) within each bar.

The lower number tells us what kind of note gets one beat in music.

As far as reading the notes go, the notes that are in between the lines read the following: f;a;c;e; and the notes that are on the lines read e;g;b;d;f;( these notes are from bottom up).

With this basic information on music reading the next step would be to decide as to what instrument you would like to learn, and then find yourself a tutor who is qualified to teach you both in particle and in theory.

Then by our being able to understand the basics in reading music, we will enhance our appreciation the next time we listen to someone playing a musical instrument well.