How to read the treble clef staff, starting with middle C and G

After this lesson you can find middle C and treble G on the staff and on the keyboard, and play a tune made from them.

The rhythm line showed you how long each note lasts. The staff adds the other half of the information: which key to play. This is where reading music really begins. Rather than trying to learn every note at once, you will start with just two landmark notes, middle C and treble G, and get completely sure of them. Later lessons find every other note by measuring from these landmarks.

The staff

A staff is a set of five horizontal lines with four spaces between them. Each note sits either on a line (the line runs through the middle of the note head) or in a space (the head fits between two lines).

The rule that makes the staff work is simple: higher on the staff means higher on the keyboard. A note near the top of the staff is played further to the right; a note near the bottom is further to the left. Rhythm still works exactly as before. A filled head with a stem is still a quarter note, a hollow one is a half note, and so on. The only new thing is height.

When you count lines and spaces, always count from the bottom up. The bottom line is the first line, and the top line is the fifth.

The treble clef

At the start of each staff is a clef, a sign that tells you which notes the lines and spaces stand for. The treble clef is the curly sign you have probably seen many times. It marks the staff usually played by the right hand, covering the notes from around middle C upwards.

The treble clef is also called the G clef, and for a good reason. Look at how it is drawn: its curl wraps round the second line from the bottom. That line is G, the G just above middle C. The clef points straight at your first landmark.

Landmark 1: treble G

Treble G sits on the second line of the treble staff, the line the clef curls round. On the keyboard it is the first G above middle C: the white key between the first two black keys of the group of three, five white keys up from middle C.

Landmark 2: middle C

Middle C does not fit on the treble staff at all. It sits just below it, on a short extra line of its own. This little line is called a ledger line; it extends the staff for one note. Whenever you see a note with a short line through it, hanging below the treble staff, that is middle C.

Middle C on its own short ledger line below the staff, and treble G on the second line, where the clef curls

On the keyboard these two notes are a hand's width apart. With your right hand in C position, middle C is under your thumb (1) and treble G is under your little finger (5).

Middle C under the right thumb and treble G under the little finger, five white keys apart

Reading C and G in a tune

Now combine pitch and rhythm. In the next example the notes jump between the two landmarks. A low note is middle C; a note on the second line is G. Read the height to choose the key, and read the head and stem to choose the length.

A four-bar reading exercise using only middle C and treble G, in quarter notes and half notes

Here is a second exercise with rests mixed in. Remember that a rest is a silent beat: lift your hand and keep counting.

Half notes, quarter notes with quarter rests, and a final whole note on middle C

How to practise

Draw a staff on paper: five lines. Mark the second line from the bottom and write "G" beside it. Draw a short line underneath the staff and put a note on it labelled "middle C".
Find middle C and treble G on your keyboard. Press each one three times, saying its name.
Set your right hand in C position. Point at each note in the first reading exercise and say "C" or "G" before you play anything.
Play the first exercise slowly, saying the note names aloud. Then play it again counting "1 2 3 4" instead.
Play the second exercise, lifting your hand cleanly for each rest.
Cover the keyboard with your eyes on the music. Try to play by looking only at the page and feeling for the keys.

Common mistakes

Missing the ledger line. A note just below the staff with a line through it is middle C. Without the line, it would be a different note.
Forgetting rhythm. Now that you are reading pitch, it is easy to play every note the same length. Check the heads and stems too.
Looking up and down constantly. Each time your eyes leave the page you can lose your place. Trust your hand position.
Playing the wrong G. Treble G is the G just above middle C, not one further up.

The guide on how to read notes explains the staff in more depth, if you want to read ahead.

Try it in Pianuvo

This lesson opens Unit 2: Reading landmark notes. You find middle C and treble G on the keyboard, read short exercises made from only those two notes, and play the first half of Landmark March from the staff. The Academy listens through the on-screen keys, a MIDI keyboard or a real piano with the microphone, and the notes can wait for you until you find each one.