Introduction: The Mystery of the Music Page
You’re sitting down with a new piece of music, excited to play, and then you see it. A little squiggle, a strange mark, something that looks nothing like a note or a rest you recognize. You stare at it, furrow your brow, and think, “What on earth is that?” If you’ve ever felt that jolt of confusion, that moment of “uh oh, now what?”, you are absolutely not alone! Learning music notation is like learning a new language, and sometimes you encounter words (or symbols) you’ve never seen before. But understanding these marks is key to playing the music as the composer intended. We’re going to dive into some of those head-scratching symbols and talk about how to make sense of them, even when they seem totally alien.
Sometimes, the “weirdness” isn’t because a symbol is obscure, but because notation itself can be a bit… flexible.
Why Notation Isn’t Always Standard (Understanding the “Weird”)
That jolt of confusion is entirely normal. And part of the reason is precisely what we just touched on: notation isn’t some ancient tablet that appeared fully formed and never changed. It’s been evolving and shape-shifting for centuries!
Think about it – music itself has changed dramatically, right? From Gregorian chants to Bach fugues to jazz standards to modern electronic pieces. As music got more complex, or composers wanted to express new ideas (or just write things down faster!), notation had to keep up. It’s kind of like how our language gets new words every year. Music notation is a living, breathing (or maybe scribbled?) thing.
Over time, different needs led to different ways of writing things down. For example, back in the Baroque era, keyboard players needed a quick way to know what chords to play over a bass line without having every single note written out. Enter figured bass! It’s a shorthand where numbers and symbols are placed below a bass note, telling you what intervals to build above it to create the harmony. You might see a ‘6’ or a ‘6/4’ or a ‘+’ – each is a little instruction manual for the harmony. It’s incredibly efficient if you know the system, but looks utterly bizarre if you don’t!
Fast forward a few centuries, and you get something like jazz chord symbols (like Cmaj7, G7b9, or Dm11). These aren’t about telling a pianist exactly which notes to play, but rather giving them a framework for improvisation. A jazz pianist or guitarist sees “Cmaj7” and knows, “Okay, I need a C major chord, and it’s got a major seventh in it. I can voice that however I want, maybe add a ninth or a thirteenth!” It’s a completely different language designed for a completely different purpose than, say, writing out a classical symphony score note-for-note. I remember the first time I saw a jazz chart after mostly playing classical music – my brain just went, “What are these letters and numbers? Where are the notes?!” It felt like learning music all over again.
And then you have the composers and arrangers themselves! Sometimes, especially in modern or experimental music, a composer might invent a symbol for a specific technique they want – maybe hitting the body of a violin, or a specific way of blowing air through a flute. These are often explained in a legend at the beginning of the piece, but if you just flip to a random page, you might see something truly unique.
So, when you see a “weird” symbol, it could be one of a few things:
- It’s a standard symbol you just haven’t encountered yet (very common!).
- It’s part of a specific convention (like figured bass or jazz symbols) that you need to learn.
- It’s something truly unique to that piece or composer (less common, but it happens!).
The good news is that while notation can be flexible and historically layered, a huge percentage of those initial “what is that?!” moments come from a relatively common set of symbols that just look a bit strange at first glance.
Decoding Common (But Confusing) Symbols
While the history of notation is fascinating, let’s get practical. Most of the time, that “weird” symbol you’re staring at isn’t some avant-garde invention, but rather a symbol that’s perfectly standard within certain styles or just a bit less common than a quarter note or a treble clef.
Let’s shine a light on a few of these frequent offenders:
Numbers Under Notes? That’s Figured Bass!
If you’re exploring Baroque music, especially for keyboard or looking at historical scores, you might encounter a bass line with numbers scattered beneath the notes. This is figured bass. It’s essentially a shorthand for the harmony. Instead of writing out a full chord, the composer wrote the bass note and then numbers indicating the intervals (like a 3rd, 5th, 6th) to be played above that bass note to form the chord. A ‘6’ under a C bass note means play a chord with a C in the bass and an interval of a 6th above it (which would be an A). A ‘6/4’ means play intervals of a 6th and a 4th above the bass. It’s incredibly efficient if you know the system, allowing for some improvisation and variation by the player, but if you don’t, it just looks like arithmetic gone wrong on your music page!
Letters and Numbers Galore: Jazz Chord Symbols
Ah, yes. Remember my story about seeing jazz charts? This is what I was talking about! Jazz, pop, and even some modern classical scores use chord symbols like Cmaj7, G7b9, Dm11, or F#sus4. These tell you the root note of the chord (C, G, D, F#), its basic quality (major, minor, dominant, suspended), and often extensions (7th, 9th, 11th, 13th) or alterations (b9, #11). Unlike classical notation which often dictates every single note, jazz symbols give the player a harmonic framework. A pianist or guitarist sees “Cmaj7” and knows they need a C major chord with a major 7th, but they get to decide how to voice it (which inversion, where on the keyboard/fretboard, maybe adding a 9th or 13th if appropriate). It’s a language designed for flexibility and improvisation. If you ever struggle to identify a chord or scale you’re playing, a music theory app like Piano Companion can be incredibly helpful, acting as a flexible dictionary that can even identify chords from notes you input, like pressing C and G to find C Major.
Articulation Marks with Attitude
You know staccato (the dot) means short. But what about a little triangle or wedge? That’s often staccatissimo – super short, almost like hitting the note and bouncing off it immediately. Or how about a line and a dot over a note? That’s sometimes interpreted as a combination of tenuto (hold the note for its full value, give it weight) and staccato (play it detached). Confusing, right? The line says “full value” and the dot says “short”! The common interpretation is “short, but with emphasis” or “detached, but not clipped.” These symbols are all about how you play the note – its length, attack, and decay.
Fancy Squiggles: Ornamentation
See a little wavy line over a note? That’s probably a trill, meaning you rapidly alternate between the written note and the note above it. A little zigzag? That could be a mordent (a quick dip up and back down, or down and back up). A looping shape? That’s a turn, usually involving playing the note above, the note itself, the note below, and then the note itself again. Sometimes trills have lines after them extending over subsequent notes, indicating the trill continues. These symbols are instructions to add decorative notes around the main melody note, adding flair and expression, especially common in Baroque and Classical music.
Abbreviations & Performance Notes
Sometimes the weirdness isn’t a symbol but an abbreviation. You might see “poco a poco” (little by little), meaning gradually change dynamics or tempo. Or “attacca,” which is like a stage direction telling you to start the next section or movement immediately without a pause. These are often just Italian (or sometimes French or German) words telling you how to perform the music, not just what notes to play.
Venturing into the Modern
In contemporary classical music, you might see symbols that look truly alien. These could indicate extended techniques – ways of playing an instrument that produce sounds outside its typical range. Think symbols for hitting the body of a cello, blowing air through a flute without pitching a note, or playing tone clusters on a piano (smashing a bunch of adjacent notes). These are often unique to the piece and will necessarily have a legend explaining them at the beginning. They exist because composers want to explore new sound worlds!
So, while that strange mark might stop you in your tracks, take a breath! A huge number of these “weird” symbols are standard tools composers use for efficiency (figured bass, jazz symbols), to specify performance nuance (articulation, ornamentation), or to give instructions (abbreviations). They look odd because they’re not notes on the staff, but they’re just another layer of information on the page.
But what if you look at something and it’s not one of these? What if you’ve checked your usual resources and it’s still a total mystery? What do you do then?
What to Do When Symbols Are Truly Unknown
We’ve talked about some of the common culprits – the symbols that look weird but are actually pretty standard in certain contexts like figured bass or jazz. But what happens when you stare at the page, flip through your theory book, search online, and still come up blank? What if that little drawing or mark seems truly unique to the piece in front of you?
This definitely happens! While a huge amount of music uses standard notation, sometimes you encounter a symbol that isn’t in any textbook. How do you know it’s genuinely unknown and not just something you haven’t learned yet? Often, it might look a bit hand-drawn, or it appears in a piece that’s very modern or experimental. Sometimes, it’s simply not listed in the standard dictionaries of musical symbols.
There are a few reasons you might see symbols that fall outside the usual categories. One possibility is that you’re looking at a handwritten score or an arrangement where the composer or arranger used their own personal shorthand. I remember seeing some old big band charts my first band teacher used – he had little squiggles and arrows that meant specific things to him for horn section cues or dynamics. They made perfect sense if you knew his system, but looked like random doodles otherwise!
Another common place for truly unique symbols is in contemporary classical music, especially pieces written since the mid-20th century. Composers exploring new sounds often need new ways to write them down. If they want a violinist to tap their bow on the bridge, or a pianist to reach inside the piano and pluck a string, they need a symbol to represent that specific action. These symbols are often completely invented for the piece, which is why they should come with a legend or key at the beginning explaining what each new symbol means. But sometimes, you might only have a single page, or the legend isn’t immediately obvious.
Occasionally, a specific publisher or even an individual editor might introduce unique markings for performance suggestions or interpretations in a particular edition of a piece. These are less common but can add another layer of mystery!
The absolute worst thing you can do when faced with a truly unknown symbol is just guess. Seriously, don’t do it! Playing an extended technique incorrectly could potentially damage an instrument (like trying to scrape a bow on the wrong part of a string instrument). More commonly, you’ll simply be playing something completely different from what the composer intended, which isn’t fair to the music or yourself. It’s like trying to bake a cake and guessing that the symbol for “baking soda” actually means “salt” – the result is not going to be what you expected!
So, if you’ve ruled out the common suspects and you suspect you’re dealing with a genuinely unique or obscure symbol, what’s your next step? You need to put on your detective hat!
Your Toolkit for Symbol Sleuthing
When you’ve looked at the common suspects – the figured bass, the jazz symbols, the standard articulation marks – and that symbol is still giving you the cold shoulder, it’s time to put on your detective hat. Finding the meaning of a truly unknown symbol can feel daunting, but you’ve got a whole toolkit at your disposal!
First things first: Context is King (or Queen!). Before you even look elsewhere, look around the symbol. What instrument is it written for? A symbol for a piano might mean something completely different on a flute. What’s the tempo? The dynamic marking? Is it in a busy passage or a sparse one? Is it placed over a single note, a chord, or a whole phrase? Think about the sound the composer might be trying to achieve in that particular moment. For example, a strange squiggle near a very loud, accented note might indicate a specific type of forceful attack or a percussive effect, whereas the same squiggle near a soft, sustained note might mean a subtle timbre change. The surrounding music gives you clues about the intention behind the symbol.
The very best place to look, especially in modern music, is right there in the score itself. Composers who invent new symbols almost always include a Legend or Key at the beginning of the piece. It might be on the first page, tucked away on a preface page, or sometimes even at the end. This is your Rosetta Stone! Always flip through the score thoroughly looking for explanations. If you’re working from a collection or an anthology, the legend might be at the beginning of the book, not just the individual piece.
If there’s no legend or the symbol isn’t listed, it’s time to consult your external Reliable Resources. Don’t just type “weird music symbol” into a search engine and click the first link (you might end up on a forum where someone’s just guessing!). Look for:
- Music Theory Textbooks and Dictionaries: Standard theory books often have appendices with common symbols. Even better are dedicated dictionaries of musical symbols – these are goldmines for finding less common but still standardized marks.
- Online Music Theory Databases & Educational Sites: Many reputable music education websites and academic resources have extensive lists of musical symbols. Look for sites associated with universities, major music publishers, or well-known music educators.
- Notation Software Manuals: Programs like Finale or Sibelius have vast libraries of symbols. Their manuals or help files can sometimes define symbols, especially if you suspect it’s a standard one that’s just uncommon. Plus, seeing it in a software library can help you identify it!
Sometimes, despite all your searching, you just can’t nail it down. This is when you absolutely should Ask for Help. Don’t feel like you have to figure it out alone! Reach out to:
- Your Music Teacher or Professor: This is what they’re there for! They have years of experience and have likely encountered far more symbols than you have.
- An Experienced Musician: A mentor, a bandmate who’s been playing longer, or someone who specializes in the genre of music you play might recognize it. I’ve lost count of the times a student has brought me a piece with a strange marking, and while I might not know it instantly, together we can usually figure it out or I can point them in the right direction.
- Specialized Forums (Use Caution): If you use online forums, stick to reputable ones dedicated to music theory or the specific instrument you play. Frame your question clearly, provide context (the piece, composer, instrument), and ideally, include a clear picture of the symbol and the surrounding music. Be wary of definitive answers from unverified sources.
As a last resort, and only if you are absolutely certain it won’t damage your instrument or ruin the performance, you could Experiment Carefully. Try playing the passage a couple of different ways that the symbol might suggest based on the context. Does one interpretation sound musically logical? Does it fit the style of the piece? Does it seem to make sense with the dynamics or articulation around it? This is risky and requires musical intuition, so it’s best done under the guidance of a teacher or after exhausting other resources. Seriously, if it looks like it involves hitting your instrument with something or doing something extreme, ASK FIRST! My general rule is: if in doubt, ask. It’s always better to clarify than to guess wrong.
Finding the meaning behind these unusual symbols is a skill that develops over time. Every new piece of music is a chance to expand your vocabulary.
Conclusion: Embracing the Learning Curve
Every new piece of music is a chance to expand your vocabulary.
And that’s really the heart of it! Those initially confusing symbols, whether they’re historical shorthand, genre-specific cues, or modern inventions, are all just part of the rich tapestry of music notation. It’s completely okay – normal, even! – to encounter something you don’t recognize. Every musician, no matter how experienced, still learns new things from time to time.
Instead of letting them intimidate you, see these symbols as exciting clues! With the right approach – checking the context, looking for a legend, using reliable resources, and not being afraid to ask for help – you have everything you need to crack the code. Each symbol you decode isn’t just understanding a mark on the page; it’s unlocking a little piece of the composer’s intent, adding depth and nuance to your performance. Keep exploring, stay curious, and enjoy the incredible journey of bringing music to life!