First light note pad turns up (4)
I believe the answer is:
dawn
'first light' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'note pad turns up' is the wordplay.
'note' becomes 'n' (abbreviation).
'pad' becomes 'wad' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'turns up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'n'+'wad'='nwad'
'nwad' backwards is 'DAWN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dawn that I've seen before include "Early morning sing-song?" , "fresh start" , "Break of day" , "Light in East" , "First light" .)