How to Read Music A Quick Overview by Anne Pugh

The Staff

The staff is comprised of 5 lines and 4 spaces

The staff is usually accompanied by a Clef which tells you what notes the staff is representing

The Grand Staff

The Grand Staff represents the notes that you would play in any given piece

This particular grand staff is common with piano pieces

The top staff has the Treble Clef; it represents what your right hand usually plays

The bottom staff with the Bass Clef; it represents your left hand

The Treble Clef

Treble Clef: The Treble clef tells you

where to find the note “G” The Clefs curl circles around

the note G.

This line is G!

The Bass Clef

The bass clef represents lower notes (hence why it is usually on the bottom staff)

The clef tells you where the note “F” is by having two dots straddle the F line on that particular staff

The line is F!

A Few Things…

From finding out where the G and F are on the respective Treble and Bass clefs, you can then figure out the rest of the grand staff alphabetically

Music, however, only has notes A through G

There is no note for “H”

So when you label the staff, it goes as such:

ABCDEFGABCDEFG- and so on

The Grand Staff; LabeledDid you get it?

The Treble Clef Mnemonic Device

Mnemonic Devices There is an easy way to

remember where notes land depending on the clef

Both the Treble and Bass clef have these

Spaces; Treble Clef The notes in the spaces of

the staff notated with a treble clef spell out F-A-C-E; FACE.

FA

C E

Treble Clef Mnemonic Device; Lines

E

G

F

B

D

-Every

-Good

-Boy

-Does

-Fine The lines create a sentence that you read from the bottom up; Every Good Boy Does Fine. The starting letter of every word is the note for that line.

Bass Clef Mnemonics

Spaces

Lines

Fun fact! The bass clef kind of looks like an “F”!

A

C

E

G -Gas

-All

-Cars

-Eat

G

B

D

F

A -Always

-Fine

-Do

-Boys

-Good

Two Ways to Figure Out Notes on Staff

Final Notes

Understanding the Grand Staff and where the notes fall in each clef is important!

However, you still need to understand rhythm and how long each note is held depending on its time signature

For more information, watch this video.

Now that you know the basics, you can learn simple songs such as Ode to Joy! Listen to Anne play it now!