Reading Music at the Piano: The Two Clefs

Intermediate · 3 lessons · Eight weeks

The staff stops looking like hieroglyphics: the treble clef, the bass clef, the middle C that joins them — and how long each note is held.

The grand staff

1. How to Read Sheet Music: Treble, Bass and the Middle C Between Them

   Two staves, two maps, and one note that joins them. The page is a map of the instrument, turned ninety degrees.

   What you'll learn

   • Know why the piano needs two staves where the guitar needs one, and what each of them serves.
   • Find middle C on the page, and understand why it sits between the two staves.
   • Read the notes on the treble staff by their lines and spaces.
   • Read the notes on the bass staff, and know why the same position means a different pitch.
   • Build your reading out of three anchor notes instead of a memorized table.

Note values and counting

1. How Long a Note Lasts: Counting Out Loud

   Five note shapes, five rests, and counting out loud — the difference between playing that holds steady and playing that wanders.

   What you'll learn

   • Identify whole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes from the shape of the note.
   • Read the two numbers at the start of the line and know what each of them tells you.
   • Count out loud, including the "and" syllable between eighth notes.
   • Treat a rest as a sign like any other, and actually produce the silence.
   • Read the written tempo and know why you do not practice at it.

Accidentals and the key signature

1. The Black Keys on the Page: Sharps, Flats and the Key Signature

   The black keys have no place of their own on the staff. Three signs, one cluster at the start of the line, and two rules that hand you every key.

   What you'll learn

   • Read a sharp, a flat and a natural sign, and know how long each of them stays in force.
   • Understand why one black key carries two names, and why that makes no difference to your playing.
   • Recognize the key signature and read it before the first note.
   • Derive the name of the key from two rules instead of memorizing fifteen signatures.
   • Spot an accidental in the middle of a line and play it exactly as written.

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