This is the Music Reading Lesson Beginners Need

When it comes to reading music - especially in the beginning - we need to have a really solid grasp of exactly what we need to look at on our sheet music in order to understand what is written and how to play it.

Notes aren’t the only thing we have to learn how to “read” when playing music. There are many symbols, numbers, lines, and other things that we need to look for and be able to interpret, just like a spoken language.

We will discuss everything that you as a beginning pianist need to learn when it comes to reading music here, and the video at the end will show you examples of all of what is covered here so you can see what it looks like in your own sheet music.

​The first things we will learn about are not actual music notes, but symbols that you’ll find at the beginning of your piece. We always read music from left to right…including symbols.

• Clef sign: the first symbol is always the clef sign. It will be a treble clef for the right hand and a bass clef for the left hand.
• The Staff: the staff includes all the lines that the notes lie on. It has 5 lines and 4 spaces in it. This is true for both the treble and the bass clefs. The names of these lines and spaces are the first thing that you want to learn so you can know the notes that fall on these places. We always read the staff lines and spaces going from the bottom to the top, not the other way around.
  1. First learn the treble clef lines & spaces: The lines are: E, G, B, D, F. The spaces are: F, A, C, E.
  2. Next learn the bass clef lines & spaces: The lines are: G, B, D, F, A. The spaces are: A, C, E, G.
  3. There are also notes in between the treble and bass clef staff. The lines and spaces in this “in between” space aren’t usually visible unless there are notes that we need to play in the piece. So sometimes you will see them and sometimes you won’t; but they are always there. The notes found on these lines and spaces include Middle C and D in the treble clef, and Middle C and B, in the bass clef. An easy way to remember where middle C is, is to know that it will be 1 line below the bottom line in treble clef, and one line above the top line in bass clef.

 
Learning the names of all these lines and spaces is the most important thing to learn before you start reading sheet music. Remember that you have to learn how to read the notes in the music as well as know where those notes are on the piano keyboard.

Memorize these, don’t just familiarize yourself with them. Practice saying them even if you aren’t sitting at your keyboard. There are words that you can put with each of the line and space sequences to help you memorize them!

For the Treble Clef:

• Lines = Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
• Spaces = Face

For the Bass Clef:

• Lines = Great Big Dogs Fight Animals
• Spaces = All Cows Eat Grass

Notice how the first letter of each word corresponds with the note name of the line or space? Try coming up with your own sayings just to help you learn these faster!

Don’t forget to memorize too what each clef sign looks like. Sometimes in more advanced music you will find that the composer switches up the clef signs and can change it in the middle of a piece.

Any questions you may have at this point should be covered in the following video that contains visual examples of the treble and bass clef lines, spaces, and even the notes in between. 

If you like my tips and lessons, you will love the courses over on my website. Whether you are a beginner looking to get a solid foundation to build on or you are looking to take your existing skills to that next level, the online music courses on my website https://www.pianolessonsontheweb.com will help you do just that.