Can you Crack the Musical Code? Quiz

A clef is a symbol placed at the start of music to tell the musician which notes the lines and spaces represent. The treble clef is also referred to as a G-clef because the central curl of the clef marks where the note G is located on the stave (staff).

A time signature is a device placed at the start of a piece of music to tell the player how many of what type of note each bar will contain. The C symbol represents common time where each bar contains four crotchets (quarter notes). This time signature can also be written as two number 4s one on top of the other.

The number 3 above this group of notes marks it is a triplet. A triplet is a type of tuplet and tuplets are used when the composer of a piece wants to use a rhythm that involves dividing the beat or beats into a different number of notes than might be expected for that time signature.

The most common tuplet is the triplet - in the example in this quiz the three crotchets (fourth notes) should take up 3 beats of the bar but the triplet symbol changes this so the player has to play them in a way that means they only take up 2 beats.

This symbol is one that gives musicians information about the dynamics of the piece. These symbols are usually placed underneath the stave (staff) and tell the musician how quietly or loudly to play. This symbol with a double f is the symbol for fortissimo which signifies that the section is to be played very loudly.

The dot above this note indicates to the player that it should be played in a staccato way. This means that the note should be played slightly shorter and be separated from the notes around it, the effective of this makes the piece sound clipped and choppy. The concept of staccato playing has existed in music since the late 17th century.

The ottava alta is represented by the number eight followed by the letters va and this signifies that the notes indicated should be played an octave higher than written. This symbol is useful for writing very high notes as it makes the music clearer than using lots of ledger lines to write the notes at their actual pitch.

The opposite of ottava alta is ottava bassa (represented by 8vb) this is usually written under the stave (staff) and signifies that the notes should be played one octave lower.

The diminuendo (which is also sometimes known as a decrescendo) is a dynamics marker giving the player information about the volume of the piece. In a diminuendo the volume of the notes gets quieter throughout the duration of the symbol. The opposite of a diminuendo is a crescendo where the music gets gradually louder and this is represented by an arrow symbol facing the other way round.

This symbol marks a quaver (eighth) rest. A rest marks a place in the music where the player does not play a note and different symbols are used to tell the player how long the rest is.

This symbol is a type of accidental. Accidentals are markers that tell a player to sharpen or flatten a note which would not normally be sharp or flat in the given key signature. This accidental is the symbol for a double sharp, this means that instead of making the note one semi-tone higher, as with a sharp, the player needs to make it two semi-tones or one whole tone higher. Given that a tone increase in a note makes the note one tone above above (so a double sharp C is the same note as a D) it may seem as though the double sharp is a bit pointless but it is used to ensure that compositions obey the rules of music theory which sometimes means a double sharp is more appropriate than the corresponding note above.

This symbol denotes a pause and is formally referred to as a fermata after the Italian word for stop. A pause is used to indicate that the note should be held for longer than the note value states its duration is. There is no set length by which the note is increased instead the length of time the note is held for is at the discretion of the player or conductor.

This symbol signifies that the previous section of the music should be repeated, ie played again. The start of the section to be repeated is marked with the same symbol but flipped so the dots and thin line are in the following bar. If there is no start signified for a repeated section then the repeated section will start at the beginning of the piece. Once the section has been played twice the musician will continue on to the rest of the piece.

This symbol is another clef and is commonly referred to as an alto clef. This is a type of C-clef as the stave (staff) line running through the centre of the clef marks middle C. The alto clef is also known as the viola clef as music written for the viola is sometimes written using this clef.

Music is broken up into bars which each contain a set number of beats (as shown in the time signature at the start of the piece). After each bar there is a vertical line to mark that the bar has finished. The final bar line of a piece is a double bar line with the line on the right thicker, this makes it clear to musicians that the piece is at an end.

This symbol is another accidental and signifies that the note it is in front of should be lowered by a semi-tone. By convention if a note is marked with an accidental in a bar than all the notes of that pitch are also changed within that bar. If the composer does not want this to be the case they can use the natural symbol which will signify that the notes are now to be played at their normal pitch.

A key signature appears between the clef and the time signature of a piece and tells the musicians what key the music is in. It does this by telling the players which notes should be played as sharps or flats in the piece as the symbols in the key signature are written on the lines corresponding to the notes that are to be changed.

The key signature in this example is that of A major or F# minor which both contain 3 sharps.