How to Read Music
The Musical Alphabet
The musical alphabet consists of 7 letters:
Each letter represents a music note. These notes are written on a staff, which consists of 5 parallel lines. Notes are written on these lines and in the spaces between them.
The Treble Clef
This symbol is called a treble clef.
The treble or "G" clef is placed at the beginning of each staff line of music for higher sounding (treble) notes. This clef indicates the position of the note G.
The Treble Staff
A staff with a treble clef written on it is called a treble staff.
The notes on the lines and spaces on the staff are named alphabetically as shown below. Each new note is said to be higher or lower in pitch than the one before it or after it.
The head of a note indicates its position, on the staff.
When the note head is below the middle staff line the stem points upward and when the head is above the middle line the stem points downward. A note placed on the middle line (B) can have its stem pointing either up or down.
