Reading Piano Music Made Simple

Two clefs, two hands

The treble clef on top holds the higher notes, which you usually play with your right hand. Its curl circles the line for G. The bass clef on the bottom holds the lower notes, which you usually play with your left hand. Its two dots sit around the line for F.

The grand staff and middle C

Together the two staffs are called the grand staff. Middle C sits right between them on a short extra line. It can hang just under the treble staff or sit just above the bass staff, and both mean the same key. On the piano everything to the right of middle C is usually treble clef, and everything to the left is usually bass clef.

The treble clef lines and spaces

The lines, from the bottom up, are E G B D F. Remember them with Every Good Boy Does Fine. The spaces spell FACE. Always count from the bottom line up, never from the top down. Say the five lines out loud three times, then the four spaces three times.

How to read bass clef

The bass clef uses different letters for the same lines, so it needs its own trick. The lines, from the bottom up, are G B D F A. Remember them with Good Boys Do Fine Always. The spaces, from the bottom up, are A C E G, or All Cows Eat Grass. Going down, the letters run backwards, G F E D C B A. Saying the alphabet backwards once or twice a day makes reading down the bass staff much quicker.

Learn three landmark notes

Instead of counting every note from the bottom line, learn three landmarks. Treble G sits on the second line up, the line the treble clef curls around. Bass F sits on the second line down, the line between the two bass clef dots. Middle C sits between the staffs. On the keys, bass F is just left of a group of three black keys, middle C is just left of a group of two, and treble G sits between the first two black keys of a group of three.

Steps and skips

From a landmark you can read the notes around it. When a note moves from a line to the very next space, or a space to the very next line, it is a step. On the piano that is the very next white key. When it moves from a line to the next line, or a space to the next space, it is a skip. That jumps over one key.

Ledger lines above and below

Some notes sit above or below the staff on short extra lines called ledger lines. Count them just like the staff, line, space, line. One ledger line under the treble staff is middle C, and the space below it is B. One ledger line above the treble staff is A. On the bass staff, one ledger line above is middle C and one ledger line below is E.

Read up and down

Look at both staffs at the same time. Notes stacked on top of each other sound together, so your two hands play them at the same moment. Reading vertically like this makes playing hands together much easier. Before you play a measure, run your eyes down each column and ask which hand plays on that beat.

Find the notes on the keys

Middle C sits just to the left of a group of two black keys near the middle of the piano. B and C, and E and F, are always right next to each other with no black key between them. G sits between the first two black keys in the group of three. Try finding notes without stickers on the keys. Close your eyes, touch the two black keys and slide one key left to find C.

Sharps and flats

A sharp sign means play the very next key to the right. A flat sign means play the very next key to the left. So F sharp is the black key just right of F, and B flat is the black key just left of B. A flat is always lower, so A flat is to the left of A, not the right. A sharp or flat written next to a note lasts until the next bar line, and a natural sign cancels it.

Key signatures

The sharps or flats at the start of each line tell you which notes to play higher or lower all through the song. C major has none, so you play only white keys unless a sign says otherwise. Before you start a new piece, check the key signature and circle any note it changes.

Write in the fingers

Writing the finger numbers in your music helps a lot, above all when you are learning something new. On both hands the thumb is 1 and the pinky is 5. In the left hand a scale going up starts on 5, so the numbers seem to run backwards. Look at the finger numbers above the notes while you play, and place your hand on its starting keys before the first note so you do not have to hunt.

Hands separately first

Learn the right hand part, then the left hand part, then put them together one measure at a time. When hands together feels hard, play very slowly and make sure both hands start each note at the same time. A good rule is to play each hand alone three times without a stop before you join them.

Read ahead

While your fingers play one measure, let your eyes move on to the next. This keeps the music going instead of stopping to find each note. Keep going even when a note is wrong, and fix it on the next time through.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Counting the lines from the top. Always count from the bottom line up, or start from a landmark note. Using treble letters on the bass staff. Say "Good Boys Do Fine Always" before you play the left hand. The right letter in the wrong place. Every C looks the same, seven white keys apart. Find middle C first and count from there. Lifting the hand off the keys to look for a note. Keep your fingers resting on the keys so they never lose their place. The right notes with the wrong fingers. It still sounds fine at first, but it gets stuck later. Slow down and follow the numbers. Reading one staff at a time. Look down the column so both hands come in together.

A five minute practice plan

Try this every day: 1. One minute. Say the treble lines and spaces, then the bass lines and spaces, from the bottom up. 2. One minute. Point to notes in your music and name them, starting from a landmark. 3. One minute. Find those same notes on the piano without stickers. 4. Two minutes. Play two measures of a new piece, each hand alone, saying the letter names. Then play them hands together very slowly.

Questions families ask

Here are a few that come up often.

How long until reading feels easy

It comes a little at a time. With a few minutes a day, the landmark notes start to feel familiar after a few weeks, and the notes around them fill in after that.

What age can a child start reading music

A child who knows the letters A to G and can count to four is ready to start. Younger children can begin with the black key groups and middle C, then add the staff.

Should we use stickers on the keys

Stickers can help for the first few days. After that, take them off so the eyes learn to read the page and the hand learns the keys by feel.

Do you need to read music to play piano

Many people play by ear, and that is a wonderful skill too. Reading opens up every song that is written down, and it makes learning new pieces much faster.

Reading music is a skill that grows with every page you play. Be patient, say the note names out loud, and celebrate each new note you know by sight. If you would like help learning to read piano music, visit our piano page to book a time.