Symbol reference

Accidentals & Key Signatures

The signs that raise, lower, or restore pitches, and the key signatures that set them wholesale.

How individual notes start, carry, and end — short, sustained, accented, or held.

Words and abbreviations that act as symbols — tempo changes, expression, and ensemble directions.

How loud, how soft, and how to get from one to the other.

Marks that only make sense on a particular instrument — bends, drum keys, mutes, and more.

Lines that stretch over the music — slurs, octave lines, pedal marks, and other spans.

How long sounds and silences last — note values, rests, dots, ties, and special noteheads.

Decorations around a written note — trills, mordents, turns, and their relatives.

The signs that route you around the page — repeats, segno, coda, and their instructions.

The working musician's shorthand — chord symbols, Nashville numbers, tab, and chart conventions.