ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Shakuhachi musical notation

Okay, let's say you have a musical instrument called a shakuhachi. It's basically a flute that comes from Japan. Now, when you want to play a song on this flute, you have to know how to read the musical notation for it.

Musical notation is like a special kind of writing that helps musicians learn how to play a song. It looks a lot like regular writing, but there are special symbols and lines that tell you what notes to play and how long to hold them. It's kind of like a secret code that musicians use to understand the music.

For the shakuhachi, the musical notation is written in a special way. Instead of using regular letters like A, B, C, etc. to represent notes, they use little symbols that look like circles with lines and dots around them. These symbols tell you how high or low the note should be, and how long to play it.

There are also special symbols that tell you when to play certain notes louder or softer, or when to add little twists and bends in the melody. All of these symbols are written on a piece of paper called sheet music.

So if you learn how to read shakuhachi musical notation, you can pick up a piece of sheet music and know exactly how to play a song on your flute. And with enough practice, you can become a master musician!