When looking at piece of sheet music, what are the first three things you will see?

Answer 1

Something black and white and read all over? ;-) Seriously, there are many things you could notice first because there are many elements to a sheet of music. At the top center is a title and perhaps a subtitle. To the right or left are the names of the composer, arranger, and/or lyricist. The bottom is reserved for the copyright notice. In between is a virtual ocean of information - clefs, meters, tempo marks, notes, articulations, expressions, measures, barlines, repeat signs, dynamics, lyrics, and more! Music notation has evolved over hundreds and hundreds of years to become a really refined and standardized communicator of musical sound.

Answer 2

There are so many possibilities for answers to this question! Generally speaking, when a musician is first learning how to read music, we are taught to notice the clef, time signature, and key signature. However, once a musician has gained years of experience, they start to notice other aspects of music notation. Three other outstanding features may be the title, composer, and the overall shape and scope of the printed notes. These other features may greatly add to the performance of the chosen work, which is why the musician may naturally notice these first.

Answer 3

I think that there are many things one can notice when picking up a new sheet of music for the first time, and the importance of what you notice can change based on setting. For example, if you're in a practice room, really hashing away at those incredibly hard passages in the new concerto you picked up, I would say that some of the first things I'd notice are the key signature, accidentals, clef changes if there are any; and you can play to your little heart's content. Where as if you were in an orchestral setting, you reach the 2nd Movement of Beethoven 7, and you slam on your strings because you didn't realize the violas and celli came in piano or less then there may be no option to recover your lost pride. I know I've been in situations where I haven't looked at the dynamic, it isn't very fun. but yes, in general I'd say the most important things are dynamics, rhythm, key signature, and time signature. :)

Answer 4

The first three things I notice are: time signature, tempo, and key signature. I believe these are the most important aspects of sheet music! If your instrument can use multiple clefs, I would also add that as an important thing to check.

Answer 5

Well, to be honest, the first thing I see is a lot of notes. Then, because I am curious as to what it is called and I know where the title is I check that out and perhaps the name of the composer.

I like the other answers to this as well. The question itself it too broad. Perhaps a better question would be when you open to a new page of music, what should you look at before trying to work on it? The best few first steps would be the title - it gives you a feel for what to expect-, then check out the clefs, key signature and time signature and any general directions at the beginning so that you don't end up playing a song you did not mean to. A smart musician would then look thru the entire piece trying to get a sense of the flow and patterns, any surprises or changes, check out the rhythms looking for tricky spots and decide how you will handle them. Then check out the notes. Are there any notes way out there? What sort of moves will be required to play them? Anything weird and unusual? Are there patterns you already know like 5 finger patterns, scales, broken chords, that might make trickier sections easier. You should also look for any changing directions so that you don't have a nasty surprise you have to stop and fix.

Answer 6

There are MANY things to look for when looking over a new piece of sheet music for the first time but I believe the three most important things to keep and eye out for would be: the time signature, the tempo and the key that the piece is in.

Answer 7

The clef, the key signature, and the time signature