Bass clef notes on the piano

The bass clef notes on the piano are, on the five lines from the bottom up, G2, B2, D3, F3 and A3, and in the four spaces, A2, C3, E3 and G3. As letters, that is G B D F A for the lines and A C E G for the spaces. The top line, A3, is the A just below middle C, and the bottom line, G2, is the second G below middle C. Middle C itself sits above the staff, on one short ledger line.

On the keyboard above, the lit keys are the bass staff's five lines: G2, B2, D3, F3 and A3. The unlit white keys in between are the spaces, so reading the staff from bottom to top is the same as walking up the white keys from G2 to A3.

The staff diagram adds the notes just outside the staff, from E2 below it up to middle C above it, each labeled with its letter.

The lines: G B D F A

From the bottom line to the top: G2, B2, D3, F3, A3. Good Boys Do Fine Always is the classic way to remember them. On the keyboard the line notes alternate with the space notes, so each line note is two white keys above the one before.

The spaces: A C E G

The spaces, from the bottom, hold A2, C3, E3 and G3, and All Cows Eat Grass is the usual memory aid. Lines and spaces together climb the white keys one at a time: every step up the staff is the next letter of the alphabet.

Bass clef notes chart

This chart runs from C2 up to E4, two ledger lines below and two above the staff. The column Key of 88 gives each note's position on a full piano, counting up from the lowest key. The page prints cleanly from your browser, chart included, if you want a copy on the music stand.

The keyboard diagram covers the same stretch as the staff diagram, from E2 up to middle C.

Landmarks for reading faster

• F3 on the fourth line. The bass clef is also called the F clef: it grew from a stylized letter F, and its two dots sit above and below the fourth line to mark F3. G3 and E3 sit in the spaces on either side.
• Middle C on the ledger line above. B3 is just under it, in the space above the top line.
• C3 in the second space. It is the C below middle C, and in C position it is the key under the left little finger.
• G2 on the bottom line. Below it come F2 in the space and E2 on the first ledger line.

If you already read treble clef, one shortcut helps: the same line or space in bass clef is two letters further along the alphabet. The bottom line is E in treble clef and G in bass clef; the top space is E in treble and G in bass.

Piano notes for the left hand

Piano music gives the left hand the lower staff because the lower notes are on the left of the keyboard, and the bass clef lets those notes sit on the staff instead of on stacks of ledger lines. Often the left hand plays bass notes and chords written on this staff while the right hand plays the melody on the treble staff above; see treble clef notes.

The two usual first left-hand positions sit in the middle of the bass staff:

• C position: little finger on C3, then D3, E3 and F3, with the thumb on G3. On the staff, that is the second space up to the fourth space.
• Middle C position: little finger on F3, then G3, A3 and B3, with the thumb on middle C. On the staff, that is the fourth line up to the ledger line above.

Left-hand fingers are numbered 1 at the thumb to 5 at the little finger, the same as the right hand; see piano finger numbers. Notes far below the staff are often written an octave higher with 8vb (or 8va bassa) underneath, which means play them an octave lower than written. For how the two staves fit together around middle C, read the grand staff guide, and to hear the lowest octaves, which this page's keyboard does not reach, use the full online piano on our companion site.