Treble clef notes on the piano

The treble clef notes on the piano are E4, G4, B4, D5 and F5 on the five lines, from the bottom up, and F4, A4, C5 and E5 in the four spaces between them. In letters, the lines spell E G B D F and the spaces spell F A C E. The bottom line, E4, is the E just above middle C, and the top line, F5, is the second F above middle C. Middle C itself sits below the staff, on one short ledger line.

The lit keys on the keyboard above are the five line notes, E4, G4, B4, D5 and F5. Every white key between two lit keys is a space note, so the lines and spaces together are simply the white keys from E4 up to F5, taken in order.

The staff diagram shows every line and space from middle C up to A5, with the letter name under each note.

The lines: E G B D F

Counted from the bottom, the five lines are E4, G4, B4, D5 and F5. The usual memory aid is the sentence Every Good Boy Does Fine; any sentence with the same first letters works as well. On the keyboard, the line notes are every other white key: skip one white key between each.

The spaces: F A C E

The four spaces spell FACE from the bottom up: F4, A4, C5 and E5. These are the white keys the lines skip. Moving from a line to the space just above it, or from a space to the line just above it, always moves up one letter, which is one white key.

Every treble staff note and its key

The table runs from middle C, below the staff, to C6, two ledger lines above it. The key number counts from the bottom of an 88-key piano.

The keyboard diagram covers the same notes, from middle C up to A5, so you can match each staff position with its key.

Landmarks for reading faster

Counting up from the bottom line every time is slow. Three landmarks cover most of the staff:

• G4 on the second line. The treble clef is also called the G clef: it grew from a stylized letter G, and its curl wraps around the second line to mark G4. Notes just above and below it are A4 and F4.
• Middle C on the ledger line below. The note just above it, hanging under the staff, is D4.
• C5 in the third space. It sits just above the middle line, an octave above middle C.

From any landmark, count one letter per line or space. With practice you stop counting and recognize each position the way you recognize a word.

Ledger lines and octave signs

Notes above or below the staff are written on short extra lines called ledger lines, spaced like the staff lines. One to three ledger lines are common; notes that would need four or more are hard to read, so printed music usually switches clef or uses an octave sign instead. 8va over a passage means play it an octave higher than written, and it lasts until the dashed line after the sign ends. The guide to piano octaves lists the other octave signs.

Sharps, flats and the treble staff

A sharp or flat in front of a note moves it to the neighboring key: F#4 on the first space is the black key just right of F4, and Bb4 on the middle line is the black key just left of B4. A sharp or flat placed at the start of every staff line, in the key signature, applies to that letter in every octave for the rest of the piece, or until the key signature changes. Sharps and flats on the piano explains the signs and how long each lasts.

Which hand reads the treble clef

In piano music, the treble staff is the upper staff of the grand staff and is normally played by the right hand, while the bass clef notes below it are normally for the left hand. The treble clef is also the clef of the violin, flute, trumpet and guitar, and of most singers' parts, so the same note names carry over to many other instruments. The step-by-step piano lessons on our companion site include one on reading sheet music.