Know the common words and symbols You can get a good idea of a song's rhythm by clapping along with where the notes fall. Pay attention to note length and only clap on the first beat of a note. Music usually has two numbers at the beginning, one on top of the other. This is called a time signature.
Bar lines are vertical lines that intersect the entire stave at regular intervals.
The end of a piece of music is indicated by a double bar line. The top number of a time signature indicates how many beats are in a measure. The bottom number indicates the type of note that makes up each beat.