Musical Staff

The musical staff has five lines and four spaces. We count the lines and spaces from the bottom up. So we can say: "the note on the second line" or "the note on the third space". The staff may have more or less than five lines but in modern music it's uncommon.

Clefs

Where you find notes on the musical staff will be determined by the clef at the beginning of each line of music. The two most common clefs are the treble clef and the bass clef.

Notes on the Staff - Treble Clef

In music, notes have letter names: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. (Some countries in Europe use the letter H instead of B.)

In the treble clef staff, you put E on the first line (i.e. the first line at the bottom). Then you go on naming the other notes from there. F will be on the first space, G on the second line, etc. When you get to E on the fourth space, you just start the circle again and continue with F, G, etc. You'll easily memorize the places of notes if you remember the word FACE(from the bottom up) for the spaces and Every Good Boy Does Fine (again from the bottom up) for the lines.

Notes on the Staff - Bass Clef

The system of naming notes in bass clef is the same as in treble clef. However, you'll find G on the first line. Then comes A on the first space, B on the second line, etc. You'll easily remember the places of the notes if you remember the sentence All Cows Eat Grass (from the bottom up) for the spaces and Good Boys Do Fine Always (similarly, from the bottom up) for the lines.

Notes on the Staff - Ledger Lines

Sometimes music includes notes lower or higher than what you can put into the musical staff. That's when you use ledger lines. For example, if you have a piece of music which starts with treble clef, there might be a B in it which is lower than E on the first line. In that case, you'll have a little extra line under the first line and place the note B under that. There might be one or more ledger lines below or over the musical staff, whether the music is written down in treble clef or bass clef. Theoretically, you can use as many ledger lines as you like - only the available space will limit the number.

Notes on the Staff - Middle C

In treble clef, Middle C is on the first ledger line under the staff. In bass clef, Middle C is on the first ledger line above the staff. It means that they are identical notes. On the piano, it's the C literally "in the middle".

The Gand Staff

When you have a treble clef line and a bass clef line, and they are joined by a line, you call it the grand staff. You use it in cases when two or more instruments play at once and/or when an instrument is capable of playing several notes at the same time, e.g. the piano.

Practice Makes Perfect!

The only way to memorize where the notes are in treble and bass clef is to practice them. For example, you could choose a piece of music you'd like to learn to play on the piano and (without writing the note names under the musical staff) learn to play and read it. The more you practice it the faster and easier you'll read music. Even if you don't play the piano, if you visualize notes on a keyboard, it'll be much easier to remember the system of music notes.

If you'd like to practice the musical staff and reading music more, I recommend The Everything Reading Music Book. There is great step-by-step music theory instruction in it. This book doesn't bore you with unnecessary technical terms that you'll never use!

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