List of musical symbols

Musical symbols are marks and symbols in musical notation that indicate various aspects of how a piece of music is to be performed. There are symbols to communicate information about many musical elements, including pitch, duration, dynamics, or articulation of musical notes; tempo, metre, form, and details about specific playing techniques.

Clefs

A clef assigns one particular pitch to one particular line of the staff on which it is placed. This also effectively defines the pitch range or tessitura of the music on that staff. A clef is usually the leftmost symbol on a staff, although a different clef may appear elsewhere to indicate a change in register. Historically, clefs could be placed on any line on a staff, but modern notation almost exclusively uses treble, bass, alto, and tenor clef.

	G clef The spiral of a G clef shows where the G above middle C is located on the staff. A G clef with the spiral centered on the second line of the staff is called treble clef. The treble clef is the most commonly encountered clef in modern notation.
Alto clef	C clef The center of a C clef points to the line representing middle C. The first illustration here is centered on the third line on the staff, making that line middle C. When placed there, the clef is called alto clef, mainly used for the viola but sometimes used for other instruments. The second illustration shows the clef centered on the fourth line—called tenor clef. Tenor clef is used for bassoon, cello, trombone, and double bass when the notes get very high, avoiding the use of excessive ledger lines. Until the classical era, C clefs were frequently seen pointing to other lines, mostly in vocal music, but this has been supplanted by the universal use of the treble and bass clefs. Modern editions of music from such periods generally rewrite the original C-clef parts to either treble, octave treble, or bass clef. The C clef was sometimes placed on the third space of the staff but this usage is unusual since all other modern clefs are placed on lines.
Tenor clef	C clef The center of a C clef points to the line representing middle C. The first illustration here is centered on the third line on the staff, making that line middle C. When placed there, the clef is called alto clef, mainly used for the viola but sometimes used for other instruments. The second illustration shows the clef centered on the fourth line—called tenor clef. Tenor clef is used for bassoon, cello, trombone, and double bass when the notes get very high, avoiding the use of excessive ledger lines. Until the classical era, C clefs were frequently seen pointing to other lines, mostly in vocal music, but this has been supplanted by the universal use of the treble and bass clefs. Modern editions of music from such periods generally rewrite the original C-clef parts to either treble, octave treble, or bass clef. The C clef was sometimes placed on the third space of the staff but this usage is unusual since all other modern clefs are placed on lines.
	F clef An F clef places the F below middle C on the line between the dots. When placing the F below middle C on the fourth line, as shown here, it is called bass clef, which is by far its most common usage. Bass clef appears nearly as often as treble clef in modern music notation. In older notation, particularly for vocal music, F clefs were sometimes centered on the third line but this usage has essentially become obsolete.
	Octave clef Treble and bass clefs can be modified by octave numbers. An "8" below the clef indicates that pitches will sound an octave lower than they would with the unmodified clef. A "15" below indicates a two-octave shift. These numbers may also be used above the clef to indicate pitches one or two octaves higher. A treble clef with an eight below is the most common version, typically used in music for guitar or tenor voice. Sometimes a shift of one octave up is indicated by drawing two clefs instead of one.
	Octave clef Treble and bass clefs can be modified by octave numbers. An "8" below the clef indicates that pitches will sound an octave lower than they would with the unmodified clef. A "15" below indicates a two-octave shift. These numbers may also be used above the clef to indicate pitches one or two octaves higher. A treble clef with an eight below is the most common version, typically used in music for guitar or tenor voice. Sometimes a shift of one octave up is indicated by drawing two clefs instead of one.
	Octave clef Treble and bass clefs can be modified by octave numbers. An "8" below the clef indicates that pitches will sound an octave lower than they would with the unmodified clef. A "15" below indicates a two-octave shift. These numbers may also be used above the clef to indicate pitches one or two octaves higher. A treble clef with an eight below is the most common version, typically used in music for guitar or tenor voice. Sometimes a shift of one octave up is indicated by drawing two clefs instead of one.
	Octave clef Treble and bass clefs can be modified by octave numbers. An "8" below the clef indicates that pitches will sound an octave lower than they would with the unmodified clef. A "15" below indicates a two-octave shift. These numbers may also be used above the clef to indicate pitches one or two octaves higher. A treble clef with an eight below is the most common version, typically used in music for guitar or tenor voice. Sometimes a shift of one octave up is indicated by drawing two clefs instead of one.
	Octave clef Treble and bass clefs can be modified by octave numbers. An "8" below the clef indicates that pitches will sound an octave lower than they would with the unmodified clef. A "15" below indicates a two-octave shift. These numbers may also be used above the clef to indicate pitches one or two octaves higher. A treble clef with an eight below is the most common version, typically used in music for guitar or tenor voice. Sometimes a shift of one octave up is indicated by drawing two clefs instead of one.
On a 5-line staff	Neutral clef Used for pitchless instruments, such as percussion instruments. Not a true clef—the lines and spaces do not indicate pitches—but it occupies the position of a clef. In this case, the lines and spaces indicate specific instruments, such as the different individual instruments in a drum set. It may also be drawn on a single-line staff for single percussion instruments.
On a single-line staff	Neutral clef Used for pitchless instruments, such as percussion instruments. Not a true clef—the lines and spaces do not indicate pitches—but it occupies the position of a clef. In this case, the lines and spaces indicate specific instruments, such as the different individual instruments in a drum set. It may also be drawn on a single-line staff for single percussion instruments.
	Tablature Used in place of ordinary staff notation for some string instruments, such as the guitar. Not a true clef—the lines and spaces do not represent pitches. The lines represent the strings of an instrument. Numbers on the lines show which fret to use. Because the lines represent strings rather than pitches, the spaces between the lines are never used.

Rhythmic values of notes and rests

In American usage, musical note and rest values have names that indicate their length relative to a whole note. A half note is half the length of a whole note, a quarter note is one quarter the length, etc.

Note	British name / American name	Rest
	Large (Latin: Maxima) / Octuple whole note
	Long / Quadruple whole note
	Breve / Double whole note
	Semibreve / Whole note
	Minim / Half note
	Crotchet / Quarter note
	Quaver / Eighth note For notes of this length and shorter, the note has the same number of flags as the rest has branches.
	Semiquaver / Sixteenth note
	Demisemiquaver / Thirty-second note
	Hemidemisemiquaver / Sixty-fourth note
	Semihemidemisemiquaver / Quasihemidemisemiquaver / Hundred twenty-eighth note
	Demisemihemidemisemiquaver / Two hundred fifty-sixth note

Accidentals and key signatures

Common accidentals

modify the pitch of the notes that follow them on the same staff position within a measure, unless cancelled by an additional accidental.

	Flat The flat symbol lowers the pitch of a note by one semitone.
	Sharp The sharp symbol raises the pitch of a note by one semitone.
	Natural A natural cancels a sharp or flat. This sharp or flat may have been indicated as an accidental or defined by the key signature.
	Double flat A double flat lowers the pitch of a note by two semitones.
	Double sharp A double sharp raises the pitch of a note by two semitones.

Key signatures

s indicate which notes are to be played as sharps or flats in the music that follows, showing up to seven sharps or flats. Notes that are shown as sharp or flat in a key signature will be played that way in every octave—e.g., a key signature with a B indicates that every B is played as a B. A key signature indicates the prevailing key of the music and eliminates the need to use accidentals for the notes that are always flat or sharp in that key. A key signature with no flats or sharps generally indicates the key of C major or A minor, but can also indicate that pitches will be notated with accidentals as required. The key signature examples shown here are as they would appear in treble clef.
Flat key signatures
'''Sharp key signatures'''

Microtones

There is no universally accepted notation for microtonal music, with varying systems being used depending on the situation. A common notation for quarter tones involves writing the fraction next to an arrow pointing up or down. Below are other forms of notation:

	Demiflat / Half flat Lowers the pitch of a note by one quarter tone.
	Flat-and-a-half Lowers the pitch of a note by three quarter tones. As with a demiflat, a slashed double-flat symbol is also used.
	Demisharp / Half sharp Raises the pitch of a note by one quarter tone.
	Sharp-and-a-half Raises the pitch of a note by three quarter tones. Occasionally represented with two vertical and three diagonal bars instead.
	Harmonic flat Lowers the pitch of a note to a pitch matching the indicated number in the harmonic series of the root of the chord. The diagram shows a specific example, the septimal flat, in the context of a septimal minor third, in which the E is tuned exactly to a 7:6 frequency ratio with the root.

A symbol with one vertical and three diagonal bars indicates a sharp with some form of alternate tuning.
File:Notation of partials 1-19 for 1-1.png|thumb|center|400px|Notation for the prime numbers in the harmonic series, labeled with their number, frequency ratios and interval size in cents. The 11th harmonic is notated with the arrow notation for a demisharp while the 7th, 13th, 17th and 19th are labeled with harmonic flats and harmonic sharps relative to C.
In 19 equal temperament, where a whole tone is divided into three steps instead of two, music is typically notated in a way that flats and sharps are not usually enharmonic ; this has the advantage of not requiring any nonstandard notation.

Time signatures

Most music has a rhythmic pulse with a uniform number of beats—each segment of this pulse is shown as a measure. Time signatures indicate the number of beats in each measure and also show what type of note represents a single beat. There may be any number of beats in a measure but the most common by far are multiples of 2 or 3. Likewise, any note length can be used to represent a beat, but a quarter note or eighth note are by far the most common.

	Simple time signatures Simple time signatures are usually classified as those with an upper number of 2, 3, or 4. This example shows that each measure is the length of three quarter notes. is pronounced as "three-four" or "three-quarter time".
	Compound time signatures In a compound meter, there is an additional rhythmic grouping within each measure. This example shows time, indicating 6 beats per measure, with an eighth note representing one beat. The rhythm within each measure is divided into two groups of three eighth notes each. This indicates a pulse that follows the eighth notes along with a pulse that follows a dotted quarter note.
	Complex/irregular time signatures Time signatures that cannot be classified as simple or compound, such as or, are often called complex, irregular or odd. These time signatures cannot be evenly subdivided into groups of two or three.
	Common time This symbol represents time—four beats per measure with a quarter note representing one beat. It derives from the broken circle that represented "imperfect" duple meter in fourteenth-century mensural time signatures.
	Alla breve / cut time This symbol represents time—two beats per measure with a half-note representing one beat.
	Metronome mark This notation is used to precisely define the tempo of the music by assigning an absolute duration to each beat. This example indicates a tempo of 120 quarter notes per minute. Many publishers precede the marking with letters "M.M.", referring to Maelzel's Metronome. This is a tempo marking, not a time signature—it is independent of how the beats are grouped, although it defines the tempo in terms of the counting note.

Dynamics

Dynamics are indicators of the relative intensity or volume of a musical line.

	Pianississimo Extremely soft. Softer dynamics occur very infrequently and would be specified with additional s.
	Pianissimo Very soft.
	Piano Soft.
	Mezzo piano Moderately soft; louder than piano.
	Mezzo forte Moderately loud; softer than forte. If no dynamic appears, mezzo-forte is assumed to be the default dynamic level.
	Forte Loud.
	Fortissimo Very loud.
	Fortississimo Extremely loud. Louder dynamics occur very infrequently and would be specified with additional s.
	Sforzando / Sforzato Literally "suddenly forced", denotes an abrupt, fierce accent on a single sound or chord. When written out in full, it applies to the sequence of sounds or chords under or over which it is placed. The weaker version is "forzando" or "forzato". Sforzando is not to be confused with rinforzando. Also written or.
	Fortepiano Indicates that the note is to be played with a loud attack, and then immediately become soft.
	Crescendo A gradual increase in volume. Can be extended under many notes to indicate that the volume steadily increases during the passage.
	Diminuendo / Decrescendo A gradual decrease in volume. Can be extended under many notes to indicate that the volume steadily decreases during the passage.
	Niente Meaning "nothing". May be used at the start of a crescendo to indicate "start from nothing" or at the end of a diminuendo to indicate "fade out to nothing".

Rarely, even softer or louder dynamic levels are indicated by adding more s or s. While is called "pianississimo" and is called "fortississimo", these words are not proper Italian.
Dynamics are relative, and the meaning of each level is at the discretion of the performer or the conductor. Laws to curb high noise levels in the workplace have changed the interpretation of very loud dynamics in some large orchestral works, as noise levels within the orchestra itself can easily exceed safe levels.

Articulation

specify the length, volume, and style of attack of individual notes. This category includes accents. Articulations can be combined with one another and may appear in conjunction with phrasing marks. Any of these markings may be placed either above or below a note.

	Staccato This indicates that the note should be played shorter than notated, usually half the value, leaving the rest of the metric value silent. Staccato marks may appear on notes of any value, shortening their performed duration without speeding up the music.
	Staccatissimo or Spiccato This indicates that the note should be played even shorter than staccato. It is usually applied to quarter notes or shorter notes. In the past this marking's meaning was more ambiguous—it was sometimes used interchangeably with staccato and sometimes indicated an accent and not a shortened note. These usages are now almost defunct but still appear in some scores. For string instruments this indicates a bowing technique in which the bow bounces lightly upon the string.
	Tenuto This symbol indicates that the note should be played at its full value, or slightly longer. It can also indicate a degree of emphasis, especially when combined with dynamic markings to indicate a change in loudness, or combined with a staccato dot to indicate a slight detachment. In percussion notation, this sign indicates a slight accent.
	Fermata or Pause A fermata indicates that a note, chord, or rest is sustained longer than its written value. It will usually appear on all parts in an ensemble. The fermata is held for as long as the performer or conductor desires.
	Accent An accent indicates that a note should be played louder, or with a harder attack than surrounding unaccented notes. It may appear on notes of any duration.
	Marcato A marcato marking indicates that the note should be played louder or more forcefully than a note with a regular accent mark. In organ notation, this sign often does not indicate marcato, but instead that a pedal note should be played with the toe. When placed above the note it indicates the right foot's toe, and below the note it indicates the left foot's toe.

Ornaments

Ornaments modify the pitch pattern of individual notes.

	Tremolo A rapidly repeated note. If the tremolo is between two notes, then they are played in rapid alternation. The number of slashes through the stem indicates the frequency to repeat the note. As shown here, the note is to be repeated at a demisemiquaver rate, but it is a common convention for three slashes to be interpreted as "as fast as possible", or at any rate at a speed to be left to the player's judgment. In percussion notation, tremolos indicate rolls, diddles, and drags. Typically, a single tremolo line on a sufficiently short note is played as a drag, and a combination of three stem and tremolo lines indicates a double-stroke roll for a period equivalent to the duration of the note. In other cases, the interpretation of tremolos is highly variable, and should be examined by the director and performers. The tremolo symbol also represents flutter-tonguing.
	Trill A rapid alternation between the specified note and the next higher note within its duration, also called a "shake". When followed by a wavy horizontal line, this symbol indicates an extended, or running, trill. In music up to the time of Haydn or Mozart the trill begins on the upper auxiliary note. In percussion notation, a trill is sometimes used to indicate a tremolo. In French baroque notation, the trill, or tremblement, was notated as a small cross above or beside the note.
	Upper mordent Rapidly play the principal note, the next higher note then return to the principal note for the remaining duration. In some music, the mordent begins on the auxiliary note, and the alternation between the two notes may be extended. Regardless of the style of music, the pattern finishes on the principal note. In handbells, this symbol is a "shake" and indicates the rapid shaking of the bells for the duration of the note.
	Lower mordent Rapidly play the principal note, the note below it, then return to the principal note for the remaining duration. In much music, the mordent begins on the auxiliary note, and the alternation between the two notes may be extended.
	Gruppetto or Turn When placed directly above the note, the turn indicates a sequence of upper auxiliary note, principal note, lower auxiliary note, and a return to the principal note. When placed to the right of the note, the principal note is played first, followed by the above pattern. Placing a vertical line through the turn symbol or inverting it, it indicates an inverted turn, in which the order of the auxiliary notes is reversed.
	Appoggiatura The first half of the principal note's duration has the pitch of the grace note.
	Acciaccatura The acciaccatura is of very brief duration, as though brushed on the way to the principal note, which receives virtually all of its notated duration. In some styles of music, the acciaccatura is played exactly on the beat and the principal note is marginally late; in other styles, the acciaccatura is marginally early and the principal note is on the beat. It is also possible on some instruments to play both notes exactly on the beat and then quickly release the acciaccatura. In percussion notation, the acciaccatura symbol denotes the flam, the miniature note still positioned behind the main note but on the same line or space of the staff. The flam note is usually played just before the natural durational subdivision the main note is played on, with the timing and duration of the main note remaining unchanged. Also known by the English translation of the Italian term, crushed note, and in German as Zusammenschlag.

Octave signs

8^va and 15^ma are sometimes abbreviated further to 8 and 15. When they appear below the staff, the word bassa is sometimes added.

Instrument-specific notation

Guitar

The guitar has a fingerpicking notation system derived from the names of the fingers in Spanish or Latin. They are written above, below, or beside the note to which they are attached. They read as follows:

Symbol	Spanish	Italian	Latin	English	French	Portuguese
p	pulgar	pollice	pollex	thumb	pouce	polegar
i	índice	indice	index	index	index	indicador
m	medio	medio	media	middle	majeur ou médius	médio
a	anular	anulare	anularis	ring	annulaire	anular
c, x, e, q	meñique	mignolo	minimus	little	auriculaire	mínimo

Piano

Pedal marks

Pedal marks appear in music for instruments with sustain pedals, such as the piano, vibraphone and chimes.

	Engage pedal Tells the player to put the sustain pedal down.
	Release pedal Tells the player to let the sustain pedal up.
	Variable pedal mark More accurately indicates the precise use of the sustain pedal. Initial depress and final release are indicated by the short vertical lines. The extended horizontal line tells the player to keep the sustain pedal depressed for all notes below which it appears. The inverted "V" shape indicates the pedal is to be momentarily released, then depressed again.
	Variable pedal mark More accurately indicates the precise use of the sustain pedal. Initial depress and final release are indicated by the short vertical lines. The extended horizontal line tells the player to keep the sustain pedal depressed for all notes below which it appears. The inverted "V" shape indicates the pedal is to be momentarily released, then depressed again.
U.C.	una corda or U.C. or 1 C. Tells the player to put the soft pedal down.
T.C.	tre corde or tutte le corde or T.C. or 3 C. Tells the player to let the soft pedal up.

Other piano notation

Old tutors published in the UK may use "English fingering". + for thumb, then 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Other stringed instruments

The thumb is also used by the cello and bass, usually denoted by ϙ, or, more rarely, a T.

Harp

Fingering numbers are similar to piano, except there is no "5" as the little finger is not used in playing the harp.
1 = thumb, 2 = index finger, 3 = middle finger, 4 = ring finger.

Six-mallet percussion

Numbers for six-mallet percussion may be reversed as well.

Organ

The organ has many different abbreviations for its keyboards in European languages.

	Great	Swell	Choir	Pedal	Solo	Orchestral	Antiphonal	Echo	Positiv
English	Great	Swell	Choir	Pedal	Solo	Orchestral	Antiphonal	Echo	Positiv
English	Gt. or G	Sw. or S	C. or Ch.	Ped. or Pd.	So.	Orch.	Ant.	Echo.	Pos.
German	Hauptwerk or Oberwerk	Schwellwerk or Brustwerk	Chor	Pedale	Solo	Orchester	Antiphonal	Widerhall	Positiv
German	Hw. or Ow.	Sw. or Bw.	Ch.	Ped.	Sol.	Orch.	Ant.	Echo.	Pos.
French	Grand-Orgue	Recit	Grand-Chœur	Pédale	Solo	Bombarde	Antiphonaire	Écho	Positif
French	G.O.	R.	G.C.	Ped. or Péd.	Sol.	Bom. or B.	Ant.	Écho.	Pos.
Dutch	Hoofdwerk	Zwelwerk	Koor	Pedaal	Solo	Bovenwerk	Antifonaal	Echo	Rugwerk
Dutch	Hw.	Zw.	K.	Ped.	Sol. or Solo	Bw.	Ant.	Echo	Rw.