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Issue #3
Notes from The Music Hub
December 16, 2025
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Writing Notes to Yourself - in the Music
When I was in high school, I played lead tenor saxophone in the jazz band. But I was new to saxophone and new to jazz, so I had a lot to learn.
Why I ended up as lead tenor is a story for another day...
One of the ways I learned was by writing notes to myself in the music. I kind of made a mess of my music since I wrote SO MUCH back then, but I am convinced it was what helped me to learn how to play the different jazz styles.
What does it mean to write notes in your music?
Before I answer that, I want to make clear one thing:
Sheet music is not like a piece of art that hangs on the wall which you have to treat it carefully. The art in music is the performance.
Sheet music is yours to do with what you want to help you achieve your goals of playing the piece.
If you are concerned about making a mess of the original, make a copy and write on the copy. If you own the copy of the original, you are welcome to make copies of it for your own use. (Not to give away to friends or sell.)
If you are reading from PDFs, print a 2nd copy or make another digital copy that you can markup.
Then, on the copy you are going to mark up, use pencil.
Many times, I have written a letter name on a piece of music and then said, "What was I thinking? It's not A, it's C!" and then had to erase and rewrite.
(In the pic above, I had to use a red marker so it would show up in the pic.)
So, what do you write in your music?
You can write anything you find useful.
I don't recommend writing in every letter name because that inhibits learning how to read music. However, if you keep missing the same note over and over, go ahead and write in the letter name for that note.
If I have to play notes on ledger lines above the treble clef, many lines up, I sometimes need to write the letter names in because all the little lines blur together.
In the pic above, the rests were hard to see and easy to miss, in my opinion. So, I circled some of them. A quick circle is often enough to remind you they are there.
You can write in fingerings. Especially when putting both hands together at the beginning, extra fingerings can support each hand doing different things at the same time.
In more complicated music, I will write out fingerings as part of my "planning" on how to play the section. Because I write them in the music, I remember what I did last time so I can drill the same muscle movement every time I practice.
You can write in extra accidentals. Just because an accidental is at the beginning of the staff doesn't mean you will remember to play it! So, go ahead and write in more accidentals in front of the appropriate notes if you need the reminder.
In longer, recital-worthy pieces of music, above the staff I have often written in mood words or a "story" that I have imagined going with the music in specific spots. This helps me communicate the feelings I am trying to express in those sections.
These are probably the most common things to write in music, but you might have something else you feel is important to add.
Remember, the sheet music is a tool. The art is the music you produce when you play. Feel free to mark up the sheet music any way you feel is helpful!
Note:
I make my pics using Canva. I picked out the sheet music example above from the pics available in Canva. At first, it looked like a pic of an old piece of music. But as I started circling rests, I realized it is AI-generated and made to look old.
How do I know it is AI?
The number of beats per measure is inconsistent. The stems of many notes are going in the wrong direction. The beats in each staff are not lined up with each other.
Why am I mentioning this?
There's a lot of garbage being "created" by AI. Some of it is free, and some of it may even be sold to unsuspecting customers. If you are not completely confident in reading music, you may end up with AI-generated sheet music. Then, when it doesn't work or you get stumped, you may not know the reason and think it is you.
I do not use any AI in my app, because I do not need to.
I have a master's degree in music. I work professionally as a collaborative pianist. My compositions have been performed throughout the United States and have finaled in many national and international competitions. I am an expert in music.
You can be confident that the content I produce, whether original songs or instructional videos, is accurate.
What's new in the App?
All the beginner material from Lessons 1-12 is now in the Piano section of the app!
Are you ready to try the app?
Our monthly membership includes
- Instructional videos of theory concepts
- Demonstration videos of how to play each song
- PDFs of theory worksheets
- PDFs of songs*
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*Arrangements of songs that are still under copyright must be purchased separately to ensure that I comply with legal regulations and that royalties are properly sent to the right person.
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Happy Music Making!
Heather Niemi Savage, composer, pianist & educator
Founder of The Music Hub
