Note Naming
To be a successful musician, all players MUST
know the names of musical notes in both treble
and bass clef.
This slide show will show you what the names of
notes in both clefs are, and how to remember
them.
In music, notes are identified by using 7 letters:
A-B-C-D-E-F-G
These letters make up the music alphabet. They
are cycled continuously as shown here:
A-B-C-D-E-F-G A-B-C-D-E-F-G A-B-C-D-E-F-G
There are no music notes named H or R or Z.
Only A through G and then they repeat.
We will begin with how music is organized:
Music is written onto a STAFF, which is made up of five lines and
four spaces as shown below.
Line 5
Line 4
Line 3
Line 2
Line 1
4th space
3rd Space
2nd space
1st space
The staff
After we have made the staff we add a CLEF to the beginning of it.
The first clef we will be looking at is the TREBLE CLEF.
The TREBLE clef is also know as the "G" clef. This
is beacuse it resembles a cursive G, and because it
begins on the line where the note G rests.
Take a look at the development of the treble clef
throughout history:
Here are the notes for Treble clef.
The lines read from bottom to top as E-G-B-D-F
E
F
G
A
B
D
C
F
E
The spaces in treble clef spell out FACE from the base of the staff to the top.
Here, all of the notes are present on the staff together. Do you notice how the notes go in
alphabetical order? Do you also notice how it returns to A after G (the third note in)?
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
Treble Clef Lines: E-G-B-D-F
Every Good
Boy
Deserves Fudge
Here is a little rhyme to remember the lines.
Others include:
"Every Good Burger Deserves Fries"
"Elvis' Guitar Broke Down Friday"
"Every Good Booger Deserves a Finger"
Or you can come up with your own rhyme!
F
A
C
E
For the spaces in treble clef, we simply need to remember that the
word FACE is spelled out from bottom to top.
Your turn!
How many of the notes below can you
name?
The next clef we will talk about is the Bass clef
The Bass Clef. It is also known as the F clef
because it resembles a cursive F, and because it
begins on the line on which the note F rests.
Old Bass Clef
The bass clef hasn't
changed much over the
years.
The notes in Bass clef are different than those in Treble clef. Sometimes this is
confusing at first, but with practice you will be able to master this in no time at all!
A
G
C
B
E
D
F
G
A
Here are all of the bass clef notes together.
Notice how they still go in alphabetical
order?
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
For the spaces, we can remember the notes by using this rhyme:
All
Good
Cows
Boys
Do
Eat
Fine
Grass
Always
Again, you can make up your own rhyme to
remember these notes
Your turn!
How many notes can you name?
Putting both clefs together
Now that we know how the notes are placed in
each clef, lets look at how they are joined
together. This may also help you see how the
notes work as a continuous alphabet.
A
B
C
D E
F
G
A B C D E F G A BCD E
Do you see the giant repeating musical alphabet? Do you notice how the two clefs are joined
by the note 'C' in the middle? Music extends up and down like this forever, and each
instrument in the band produces the notes in one are of one of the clefs to make this happen!