NotePlayMusicMusic theory,
made practical.
Learn to read music, understand rhythm and find your way around keys and chords. Clear lessons and interactive practice for Grade 1–2 beginners.
Free to explore. No account needed.
Have printed music? Scan a photo into a playable scoreTry your first note.
What is the name of this highlighted white key?
Understand the idea
Start with clear explanations, keyboards and worked examples.
Put it into practice
Check your understanding with feedback on every answer.
Learn without barriers
Read and practise freely. Sign in when you want to keep your place.
New to reading music? Start here.
Follow these introductory lessons in order, or pick the idea you need.
- 1
Pitch and the Musical Alphabet
Find your way around the piano keyboard with seven repeating note names — the same names apply whatever instrument you play.
Read the lesson - 2
What Is a Staff?
See how five lines and four spaces turn pitch into a picture.
Read the lesson - 3
Reading the Treble Clef
Use second-line G to unlock every line and space in treble clef.
Read the lesson - 4
Bass Clef Notes: Read the Lines and Spaces
Find fourth-line F, then use the musical alphabet to read every line and space of the bass staff.
Read the lesson
Grade 1 music theory
Build your foundations, one topic at a time.
Showing 13 Grade 1 practice topics.
- Musical Terms
Musical Terms & Dynamics
Know what staccato and decrescendo mean.
- Rhythm
Note & Rest Values
Know how many crotchet beats a semibreve lasts.
- Key Signatures
Key Signatures: True or False
Know how many sharps or flats are in C, G, D, and F major.
- Musical Terms
Tempo & Dynamics Vocabulary
Know that forte means loud and piano means soft.
- Fundamentals
Fundamentals: Staff, Clefs & Accidentals
Know how many lines and spaces make up a standard music staff.
- Rhythm
Reading Time Signatures
Count the beats in a bar to identify its time signature.
- Pitch
Note Names: Treble Clef
Read and name notes on the treble clef staff.
- Pitch
Note Names: Bass Clef
Read and name notes on the bass clef staff.
- Key Signatures
Key Signatures & Scale Degrees
Identify scale degrees in a written key signature or scale.
- Intervals
Identifying Intervals
Count the interval number between two notes in C major.
- Triads
Tonic Triads
Recognize whether a written triad is the tonic triad of a given key.
- Music in Context
Music in Context
Read a short melody and answer questions about its notes and shape.
- Rhythm
Notated Answer Choices
Compare rhythmic groupings written in different bars.
See the notes.
Hear the difference.
Listen to C, E and G going up the treble staff. Then try naming notes for yourself.
Try note-reading practiceC, E, G · treble clef
Grade 2 music theory
Take the next step with more note reading, rhythm and harmony.
Showing 7 Grade 2 practice topics.
- Rhythm
Rhythm
Read time signatures and bar lengths, including semiquavers.
- Pitch
Note Reading
Read notes in treble and bass clef, including ledger lines.
- Key Signatures
Keys and Scales
Identify new major key signatures.
- Intervals
Intervals
Name the interval above the tonic.
- Triads
Tonic Triads
Identify tonic triads, including minor tonic triads.
- Musical Terms
Terms and Signs
Know Grade 2 Italian terms and signs.
- Music in Context
Music in Context
Read a short melody and answer questions about it.
A little practice.
A clear next step.
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