← All lessonsModule 10 · Read Music Fast
The Staff and the Clefs
Five lines, two clefs and a few silly sentences. Learn how the staff works, why the treble and bass clefs look the way they do, where middle C lives on the grand staff, and a fast way to read any note from three landmarks. Then read Twinkle, Twinkle straight from the page.
In this lesson you'll
- Read the five-line staff: every line and every space is one step of the scale, and higher on the staff means higher in pitch.
- Name any note in the treble and bass clefs with the memory sentences, including ledger lines and middle C on the grand staff.
- Read fast from three landmarks (treble G, middle C, bass F) by counting steps, and play a short tune from notation.
Music in this lesson
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little StarTraditional
- Gymnopédie No. 1 (recap)Erik Satie · 1888
Remember
Five lines, line and space: each one is a step of the scale; notes above or below the staff use short ledger lines.
The clefs are fancy letters: the G clef curls around the second line (G), the F clef's dots surround the fourth line (F).
Treble G, middle C and bass F are landmarks: find the nearest one and count the steps.