Music is written on a staff of five lines and four spaces. A clef at the start tells you which notes they stand for. In the treble clef the lines are E, G, B, D, F and the spaces spell F, A, C, E. In the bass clef the lines are G, B, D, F, A and the spaces are A, C, E, G.
By Dan Vrancic, music theory teacher · Reviewed October 2026
The staff and the musical alphabet
The staff has five lines and four spaces, always counted from the bottom up. Notes sit either on a line or in a space, and each step up the staff, line to space to line, is the next letter name.
Line, space, line, space: each step up is the next letter, and the next white key on the piano.
Music uses only seven letters, A B C D E F G. After G comes A again. On a piano, those are the white keys, repeating from left to right.
Treble clef notes
The treble clef is also called the G clef. Its curl wraps around the second line, so that line is G, the G above middle C. The treble clef is used for higher notes: the right hand on the piano, and instruments such as flute, violin, trumpet and most voices.
Treble clef lines, bottom to top.
Treble clef spaces, bottom to top: they spell FACE.
Bass clef notes
The bass clef is the F clef. Its two dots sit either side of the fourth line, so that line is F, the F below middle C. The bass clef is used for lower notes: the left hand on the piano, and instruments such as cello, bassoon, trombone and bass guitar.
Bass clef lines, bottom to top.
Bass clef spaces, bottom to top.
Treble clef
Lines and spaces
Lines
EEvery
GGood
BBoy
DDeserves
FFudge
Spaces
F
A
C
E
Bass clef
Lines and spaces
Lines
GGood
BBoys
DDeserve
FFudge
AAlways
Spaces
AAll
CCows
EEat
GGrass
Middle C and the grand staff
Piano music joins a treble staff and a bass staff into the grand staff. Middle C sits between them on its own short line. It can be written just below the treble staff or just above the bass staff: both mean the same key.
Middle C below the treble staff and above the bass staff: the same note.
Notes above and below the staff
Notes that are too high or low for the staff use ledger lines, short lines that extend it. Keep counting one letter per line or space, just as on the staff.
Treble clef: middle C on the first ledger line below, and A on the first ledger line above.
Bass clef: E on the first ledger line below, and middle C on the first ledger line above.
Try it: name the note
Note 1 of 8 · treble clef
What is this note?
See it step by step
The interactive explainer from Lesson 1, with sound. Step through it at your own pace.
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From the bottom line up: E, G, B, D, F. Remember them with “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge.”
What are the notes in the treble clef spaces?
From the bottom space up: F, A, C, E. They spell the word FACE.
What are the notes on the bass clef lines?
From the bottom line up: G, B, D, F, A. Remember them with “Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always.”
What are the notes in the bass clef spaces?
From the bottom space up: A, C, E, G. Remember them with “All Cows Eat Grass.”
Where is middle C?
On its own short line, called a ledger line, just below the treble staff or just above the bass staff. Both mean the same key: the C nearest the middle of the piano.
Why is the treble clef called the G clef?
Its curl wraps around the second line, marking it as the G above middle C. The bass clef is the F clef: its two dots sit either side of the fourth line, the F below middle C.
How do you read notes above or below the staff?
With ledger lines: short lines that extend the staff. Keep counting one letter per line or space, exactly as on the staff. Below the treble staff, the first ledger line is middle C.
Members get · Video lessons
Watch Dan teach treble and bass clef notes
2 video lessons at the staff and the keyboard, with lesson notes and a graded quiz at the end.
Practice that never runs out. Fresh questions on treble and bass clef notes every time, checked the moment you answer. What you miss comes back until it sticks.
Start at the piano, find a landmark, then watch the staff line up with the keys it stands for. By the end, every line and space will point to one key.
Step 1 of 10
Two black keys, three black keys, two, three… Tap any key to hear it.
The keyboard
Look for the pattern in the black keys
At first the keyboard looks like a jumble of white and black keys. Look closer: the black keys alternate in groups of two and three, and that pattern repeats from one end of the piano to the other. Each repeat has seven white keys and five black keys.
Black keys come in groups of two and three.
Use the arrow keys while a story control is focused.
Read the story as text
Look for the pattern in the black keys
At first the keyboard looks like a jumble of white and black keys. Look closer: the black keys alternate in groups of two and three, and that pattern repeats from one end of the piano to the other. Each repeat has seven white keys and five black keys.
Name the white keys with seven letters
Music uses only seven letter names: A B C D E F G. After G, the alphabet starts again at A, so the same seven letters repeat up and down the keyboard. Keys to the right sound higher; keys to the left sound lower.
Find every C, then find Middle C
C is the white key just left of each group of two black keys. The C closest to the middle of the piano is Middle C. Pianists use it as a homing beacon: find Middle C first and the rest of the keyboard is easy to name.
Written music lives on five lines
The staff is five lines and four spaces. Count both from the bottom: the bottom line is line 1 and the bottom space is space 1. Every note is centred either on a line or in a space.
Each step up the staff is the next white key
A line note has a staff line through its middle. A space note sits between two lines. Moving up one step always goes from a line to the next space, or from a space to the next line, just as your finger moves to the next white key. So which nine keys do these notes mean? Without a starting point, they could be anywhere.
The treble clef pins G to line 2
A clef tells us which key each line and space stands for. The treble clef is also called the G clef: its curl wraps around line 2, and that line is the G just above Middle C. One fixed note is all we need. The ladder now has a home on the keyboard.
Count from G to name every note
Step up from G: A, B, C, D… Step down: F, E. The lines read E G B D F (Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge) and the spaces spell F A C E. Pianists usually play treble-clef notes with the right hand. Press Play to hear the ladder climb the keyboard.
Change the clef and the notes move
Swap in the bass clef. Nothing moves up or down on the staff, but every note slides to a lower key. The bass clef is the F clef: its two dots sit either side of line 4, the F just below Middle C. The lines read G B D F A (Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always) and the spaces A C E G (All Cows Eat Grass).
Middle C joins the two staffs
Put the treble staff above the bass staff and the two ladders meet. The step between them is Middle C, written on its own short line just below the treble staff or just above the bass staff. Both mean the same key. Piano music uses this pair of staffs, called the grand staff.
Read the note, find the key
Tap any key to see where it is written, or step through the staff with Lower and Higher. Then take the challenge: name each note and watch it land on its key. Check the clef, find the line or space, then count from G, F or Middle C.
