For the purposes of understanding the standard notation that appears in this book, here are the basic symbols and their meanings:

• The clef symbol, usually either a treble clef that looks like this : is the first thing that appears in the first measure and often appears in the first measure of every line as well. This symbol tells you what notes the lines and spaces of the staff stand for. Harmonica scores for standard diatonic harmonicas are always written in treble clef. If there were a bass clef instead, the lines and spaces of the musical staff would stand for different notes.

• The key signature is the next thing that appears in the first measure (and also often in the first measure of every line), expressed by one or more sharp signs or flat signs — one or the other. Because every key has different notes that are always sharp or flat in its scale, these sharps or flats tell you that those notes will always be sharp or flat throughout the entire piece of music, unless otherwise indicated. This saves having to write those sharps or flats in front of those notes every time they occur in the music, which makes the score much less cluttered looking.

• The time signature is the third thing that appears in the first measure after the clef symbol and the key signature. Expressed as two numbers, one above the other, the top number tells you how many beats are in each measure, and the bottom number tells you what kind of note gets counted as one beat. For example, in 3/4 time there are three beats per measure and the quarter note gets one beat. In 3/8 time there are three beats per measure and the eighth note gets one beat.

• The sharp sign looks like this: #. When it's written directly in front of a note it means that note is to be raised one half step above normal.

• The flat sign looks like this: . This sign is placed directly in front of a note when a note that's always supposed to be sharp or flat because of the key signature is instead to be played at its original pitch.

• A dot written after a note means that the note is to be played for half again its usual time value. For example, a dot written after a half note, which normally gets two beats in 4/4 time, which means it would now be played for three beats instead.

• A slur, which was discussed in Chapter 5, is represented by a curved line over or under a group of notes. Recall that a slur means that the notes are to be played together as a phrase, where the notes run together, as opposed to each note having a separate hard attack. Note that if a curved line is written between two notes of the same pitch, it is called a tie instead of a slur, and in this case it means you are to hold the note for the total number of beats the two notes are worth together. For example, two half notes (each of which gets two beats) of the same pitch with a tie between them would be played as one note held for four beats.

There are times in music when you're not supposed to play, and the musical term for not playing is, appropriately enough, resting. Rest signs tell you how long you'll be resting (as opposed to playing) within each measure.

The most commonly used rest signs are:

You're not required to memorize all this standard notation information in order to be able to proceed with your harmonica studies, but it's good for your musicianship if you're familiar with these basic symbols and their meanings.