If you’ve been alive for more than five minutes, then you know about symbols. The dictionary defines a symbol as a “letter, figure, or other sign used to represent something else.” For example, check out the following images. Do you know what each one stands for?
We see these kinds of symbols all the time … on anything from t-shirts, bumper stickers, and street signs to TV, jewelry, and cards. In fact, we’re surrounded by thousands of symbols every single day.
But if you stop and think about it … none of these symbols are very obvious. I mean, try to imagine seeing these symbols for the first time. Would you know what they stand for? Is there anything about a skull and crossbones that means “poison”? And how do we really know that a circle with lines means “peace”? The truth is, we know what these symbols mean only through practice. Which means we have to see these symbols a few times to understand what they represent.
And this is where it gets interesting. You see, musical symbols are like this, too.
Sure, some people get all intimidated when they see them. But there’s nothing special about the symbols that musicians use. Just like any other symbols, musical signs are used to tell us different things. And they communicate information quickly. For example, check out this sample of common musical symbols:
We already know what a few of these mean … like the treble clef, bass clef, and key signature. And we’ll learn about many other symbols going forward. So, by the time we’re done, we’ll know a whole new language of really cool—and very simple—symbols. Watch out … because it only gets better from here.