How to Read the Bass Clef and Treble Clef on the Piano

The clef is the first symbol that appears on the musical staff, the set of five lines on which musical notes and symbols are written. The clef tells you which notes are indicated by each line and space. To play the piano, you must be able to recognize the notes in both treble and bass clef.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Recognize the symbols for the bass and treble clefs. The treble clef symbol resembles a curly backwards "S." The bass clef looks like a backwards "C" with a colon (:) to the right. Piano music is written with two staffs; the treble clef is on the top staff and the bass clef is on the lower staff.
2. Understand that there are always five lines and four spaces on a staff. Each line or space on the staff represents a specific note. There are seven different notes in a musical octave: C, D, E, F, G, A and B. The notes are represented differently on the staff depending on the clef.
3. Learn the notes (EGBDF) that correspond to the lines of the treble clef. Start from the bottom and assign a note to each of the five lines. E is the bottom line, G is the second line from the bottom and so on until you reach the top line, which is F. Memorize the phrase "Every Good Boy Does Fine," using the first letter of each word as your clue to remember the order of the notes on the lines of the treble clef.
4. Memorize the notes that correspond to the four spaces on the treble clef using the acronym FACE. Assign the letters to each space, in order, starting from the bottom and working up.
5. Use the phrase "Good Boys Do Fine Always" to lean the notes that correspond to the lines of the bass clef. Notice that these five notes are different from those of the lines on the treble clef. G is the bottom line and A is the top line.
6. Remember that the four spaces of the bass clef represent different notes than those of the treble clef. These notes, in order from the bottom space up, are A, C, E and G. Use the phrase "All Cows Eat Grass" to help you remember the notes of the spaces of the base clef.
7. Find the notes you have just learned to read on your piano keyboard. Locate the note called middle C as a reference. Look for black keys, organized in groups of twos and threes. Find the group of two and three black keys in the middle of the keyboard, located directly under the label or manufacturer's name. The white key to the left of this group of two black keys is middle C.
8. Realize that middle C is the dividing note between the treble clef and the bass clef. All of the notes above middle C are treble clef notes. Play these notes with your right hand. They are higher in tone. All notes below middle C are bass clef notes, played with your left hand. These notes are lower in tone.