please help me understand what these symbols mean and how to play them
1. the squiggly over the note. the fingers 3,2,1 makes me think im supposed to play this really fast in succession with the 3 fingers like a ripple? thats what it sounds like on the mp3 example. how do you play this? also later on there are squigglys with no fingerings
That sign is called a lower mordent.
It is an ornament used to give a particular emphasis to the note below note.
The lower mordent means real note, inferior note and again real note.
So an lower mordent above the note C is played like C - B - C
Now the rhythmic accent is still on the real note (the third one) so the first two note are to be played really fast.
2. the mini note thats connected to the dotted half. that note doesnt add up with the time sig, yet somehow its still played?
The mini note is called appoggiatura.
It's a sort of non-prepared delay on the real note, as the name says it is "appoggiato (laid)" to the real note.
The appoggiatura steals the value to the real note
When there's an appoggiature on a dotted note is always better to avoid the syncompation and give the appoggiature the same value of the note
3. why is there a rest above the note?
That's because there are two voices.
You can see the values don't add up
That's because you have two voices
An inferior voice which plays B 1/2 and B 1/4 and
the second voice which playes rest 1/4 and D 1/2
Topic: weird symbols in sheet music