Accent
An accent (>) above or below a note means play that note louder than the ones around it.
It is a local instruction, not a dynamic change: the passage stays at its marked volume and one note leans out of it. Accents are how a rhythm gets its character, especially off the beat.
How To Spot Accent
A small sideways v above or below the note head, pointing right.
Find It In Thirty Seconds
Play a bar of even eighth notes, then play it again with an accent on every third note. Same notes, entirely different music.
Open any piece of sheet music on this site and do it now. Reading is a recognition skill, and recognition is built by finding things, not by reading about them.
Related Topics...
How to Read Sheet Music: Learn how to read sheet music using interactive lessons from Chordzy. Or browse our various reading music topics.
Music Notation Glossary: Every symbol on a page of piano music, explained in one sentence each — clefs, note values, rests, accidentals, dynamics and repeat marks.
Crescendo: A crescendo means get gradually louder. It is written as cresc. or as a hairpin that opens to the right.
Dynamics: Dynamics are the letters under the staff telling you how loud to play: p is soft, f is loud, and mp and mf are the moderate versions of each.
Staccato: A staccato dot above or below a note head means play it short and detached — roughly half its written length, with silence filling the rest.
More in This Section
Accidental: An accidental is any sharp, flat or natural written in front of a note, changing its pitch for the rest of that measure.
Pickup (Anacrusis): A pickup — also called an anacrusis — is an incomplete measure at the start of a piece, holding the note or notes that lead into the first full bar.
Readers Also Look For
Octave Sign (8va): 8va above a passage means play it one octave higher than written; 8vb below means one octave lower. The dashed line shows how far the instruction lasts.
Pedal Marking: A pedal marking tells you when to press and release the sustain pedal: Ped. where it goes down, an asterisk or the end of a bracket where it comes up.