Learning Music Notes

How to Read Sheet Music for Beginners

One of the first things that any beginning pianist learns to do, is to read music. Notes are the words that music uses to communicate with us, and in order to be able to read the language of music, we need to learn what the notes are so we can play them.

Here are some easy tips for learning your notes as a beginning pianist along with a video that offers some real time practice on your note reading that will help you improve quickly!

The Grand Staff This is what we call the Grand Staff. You can see that there are lines and spaces on the top part as well as the bottom part. Notice the 2 different signs within the lines and spaces? These are called Clefs, and the top one is called the Treble Clef, and the bottom one is called the Bass Clef.

The Treble Clef and Notes contains 5 lines and 4 spaces in it, and each of these lines and spaces has a specific note that is located there.

The notes on the 4 spaces are F, A, C, & E.

The notes on the 5 lines are E, G, B, D, & F.

Say the note names on the Spaces going from the bottom to the top several times. Then do the same thing with the notes on the Lines, again going from the bottom to the top.

The Bass Clef and Notes contains 5 lines and 4 spaces in it, and each of these lines and spaces has a specific note that is located there.

The notes on the 4 spaces are A, C, E, & G.

The notes on the 5 lines are G, B, D, F, & A.

Say the note names on the Spaces going from the bottom to the top several times. Then do the same thing with the notes on the Lines, again going from the bottom to the top.

The Grand View of All Notes on the Lines and Spaces in Treble and Bass Clef

Here you have all of the notes on both the lines and spaces in each clef, for easy review. Take some time to read each note in each clef, and then try to look away and name all of your Space notes in each clef or all of your line notes in each clef.

Keep doing this each day until you can name the notes without looking at any hints.