Music Symbol ♪: Music Notes, Clefs, Sharp and Flat to Copy

What each musical note symbol means

In Western sheet music, the shape of a note tells you how long to hold it. The values below are for common 4/4 time, where a quarter note gets one beat:

The British names (crotchet, quaver) are used in many Indian schools and music exams, while American books say quarter note and eighth note. Both mean the same thing. When people say "music notes symbol" they usually mean ♪ or ♫, simply because they look the most musical.

Sharp, flat and natural symbols

These three signs change the pitch of a note:

• ♯ Sharp: raises a note by a half step (semitone). C♯ is the black key just right of C on a keyboard.
• ♭ Flat: lowers a note by a half step. B♭ is the black key just left of B.
• ♮ Natural: cancels a sharp or flat, bringing the note back to normal.

A common mistake is using the hashtag symbol # instead of ♯. They look alike, but the music sharp symbol has slanted horizontal lines and upright vertical lines, while # is a keyboard character. In casual chat "C#" is fine, but in printed music notes or a theory assignment, use the real ♯. Likewise, the flat symbol ♭ is not the letter b.

Treble clef symbol and bass clef symbol

A clef sits at the start of a staff (the five lines) and tells you which notes the lines stand for.

• 𝄞 Treble clef (G clef): its curl wraps around the second line from the bottom, marking that line as G. It is used for higher sounds: violin, flute, the right hand on piano, and most singing parts.
• 𝄢 Bass clef (F clef): its two dots sit around the fourth line, marking it as F. It is used for lower sounds: bass guitar, cello, the left hand on piano.

The treble clef 𝄞 is also a favourite in logos for music classes and in wall art, often with a heart symbol to show love for music. Note that 𝄞 and 𝄢 are newer characters, so some older devices or fonts may show a box.

Text music symbols vs music emojis

There are two families of musical symbol on this page:

For a music symbol text copy paste that works almost anywhere, pick from the music text symbol set. Switch to the emojis when you want colour. 🎶 is the emoji version of ♫, and 🎵 matches ♪.

Song symbol ideas for captions and bios

A song symbol makes it clear you are sharing music. Copy and adapt:

• ♪ now playing: old Hindi songs ♪
• 🎧 lost in lo-fi 🎶
• ♫ singer | guitarist 🎸 ♫
• 𝄞 music is my therapy ♡
• 🎤 open mic night, see you there ♬
• love music symbol idea: ♡♪ or 🎶❤

For a playlist title, try something like "♫ Sunday Drive ♫". Add stars or sparkle from star symbols or soft frames from aesthetic symbols.

How to type a music symbol on any device

Windows Alt codes: two music notes have short Alt codes from the old DOS table. Turn on Num Lock, hold Alt and type on the numeric keypad:

• Alt+13 gives ♪
• Alt+14 gives ♫

These may not work in every program. The other symbols (♩ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯ 𝄞 𝄢) have no standard Alt code. See our Alt codes list for more.

Microsoft Word: type the code and press Alt+X:

• 2669 gives ♩, 266C gives ♬
• 266D gives ♭, 266E gives ♮, 266F gives ♯
• 1D11E gives 𝄞, 1D122 gives 𝄢

Google Docs: Insert > Special characters, then search "note", "sharp" or "clef".

Mac: no Option key shortcut exists for these. Press Control+Command+Space and search "note" or "clef".

Android and iPhone: some Android keyboards include ♪ on the extra symbol page (tap ?123 then =\<), but many do not, and positions vary. On iPhone, ♪ is not on the standard symbol keys, so search "music" in the emoji keyboard for 🎵 🎶, or copy text notes from here.

HTML: ♪ shows ♪ and ♫ shows ♫.

Music symbols in Indian music

Indian classical music is usually written with sargam letters (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni) rather than Western notes, so symbols like ♯ and ♭ are less common there. Still, the Western symbols appear in keyboard and guitar classes across India, in graded music exams, and in film-song notation shared online. If you are writing notes for a harmonium or keyboard tutorial, a mix works well, for example "Sa (C) Re (D) Ga (E)" with ♯ or ♭ where needed.

For sound and wave topics in science class, see physics symbols. More decorative sets are on the cool symbols hub.