Music symbols

All 89 symbols that appear in sheet music on one page: the symbol as printed, its name and one sentence about it. Note values, rests, accidentals, clefs, time signatures, dynamics, articulation, repeats, ornaments, tempo.

The symbols are engraved, not typed as characters — on phones the music font is missing and a box explains nothing. Every name leads to its entry in the glossary, where there is more. If you want to copy a symbol, the Unicode character is there too, where one exists.

To copy and paste

Tap, and the symbol is on the clipboard. The first seven show on every device; the rest come from the Unicode musical block and appear as boxes on some phones — pasted into a document with a music font they are correct.

Note values

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	Whole note	four beats in common time
	Half note	two beats
	Quarter note	one beat
	Eighth note	half a beat
	Sixteenth note	a quarter of a beat
	Dotted note	one and a half times as long
	Triplet	three notes in the time of two
	Tie	two notes become one

Rests

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	Whole rest	a bar of silence
	Half rest	two beats of silence
	Quarter rest	one beat of silence
	Eighth rest	half a beat of silence
	General pause	everyone is silent

Accidentals

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	Sharp	a semitone higher
	Flat	a semitone lower
	Natural	back to the plain note
	Double sharp	two semitones higher
	Double flat	two semitones lower
	Key signature	the accidentals at the start of the line

Clefs

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	Treble clef	the clef for the higher notes
	Bass clef	the clef for the lower notes
	Alto clef	middle C on the middle line
	Tenor clef	middle C on the fourth line
	Octave clef	an octave lower than written

Time signatures

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	4/4 time	four quarter notes per bar
	3/4 time	three quarter notes per bar
	6/8 time	two groups of three eighths
	Cut time	count in half notes
	Common time	stands for 4/4
	Upbeat	the incomplete first bar

Dynamics

All levels from ppp to fff, with hairpins and accents — with sound

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	pianissimo (pp)	very soft
	piano (p)	soft
	mezzo-forte (mf)	moderately loud
	forte (f)	loud
	Crescendo	growing louder
	decrescendo	growing softer
	sforzato (sf, sfz)	a single sharp accent

Articulation

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	Staccato	detached, short
	Tenuto	held, given full length
	Accent	attacked with emphasis
	Marcato	marked, strongly stressed
	Legato and slur	play smoothly connected
	Fermata	hold beyond the written value

Repeats and jumps

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	Repeat sign	go back and play again
	First and second ending	first time, second time
	Da capo (D.C.)	from the beginning
	Dal segno (D.S.)	from the sign
	Coda	the closing section
	Fine	the end is here
	Bar repeat	play the same bar again

Tempo markings

Symbol	Name	Meaning
—	Grave	solemn and very slow, 25–45
—	Largo	broad and very slow, 40–60
—	Larghetto	a little less broad than largo, 60–66
—	Adagio	slow and stately, 66–76
—	Andante	at a walking pace, 76–108
—	Andantino	slightly more moving than andante, 80–108
—	Moderato	moderate, 108–120
—	Allegretto	moderately fast, 112–120
—	Allegro	fast and bright, 120–168
—	Vivace	lively and brisk, 140–176
—	Presto	very fast, 168–200
—	Prestissimo	as fast as possible, from 200
—	Accelerando	getting faster
—	Ritardando	gradually slowing
—	A tempo	back to the previous speed
—	Rubato	free in time

Ornaments

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	Trill	rapid alternation with the note above
	Mordent	a quick dip below and back
	Turn	around the note
	Grace note	a small note before
	Arpeggio	roll the chord
	Glissando	slide from note to note

Intervals

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	Unison	the same note, zero semitones
	Second	one or two semitones
	Third	three or four semitones
	Fourth	five semitones
	Fifth	seven semitones
	Sixth	eight or nine semitones
	Seventh	ten or eleven semitones
	Octave	twelve semitones
	Tritone	six semitones

Further signs

Symbol	Name	Meaning
	Barline	the boundary between two bars
	Final barline	the piece ends here
	Ledger line	a line for notes outside the staff
	Octave sign (8va)	play an octave higher
	Pedal mark	press the sustain pedal
	Breath mark	breathe here
	Staff	the five lines
	Brace	the bracket joining staves

Anotona does this for you

Photograph a page of sheet music or play the melody — Anotona finds the key, engraves the notes and transposes them into any other. Free.

See Anotona

Every note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.