{"id":46,"date":"2017-07-21T09:11:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T16:11:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-16T11:37:24","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T19:37:24","slug":"piano-music-theory-grand-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-music-theory-grand-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Music Theory For The Dropouts #2 – The Grand Staff Demystified"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reading notes on the grand staff is a little bit intimidating at first.  Take one look at the page and you\u2019ll see there\u2019s a lot of information being thrown at your very quickly.  In your last theory lesson, you learned about counting rhythms: how they feel to hear and play, and what they look like in notation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lesson is about giving you some easy ways to read the pitches of notes on the grand staff.  Once you learn what to look out for on the grand staff, it\u2019ll become much easier to absorb and use the musical information it gives you.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So first thing\u2019s first.  Each line and space on the grand staff corresponds to to a specific pitch on the keyboard.  If you\u2019ve spent any time at the piano, you\u2019re probably already familiar with Middle C as your home-base note.  On the grand staff, you can find the note right in between the Bass Clef and the Treble Clef.  It\u2019s got a little line through it called a <\/span>ledger line<\/span><\/em> (more about those in just a minute.)   <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>From there, you can count up the lines and spaces in the treble clef, and each line and space equals another white key note. \u00a0So that means that the white space note directly above Middle C is D, then the first lined note on the staff is E. \u00a0From there it counts up the scale, with F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anything above that and you\u2019re getting into ledger lines.  You can think of ledger lines as a continuation of the grand staff.  A lined note looks just like Middle C, with a line running through the note hanging above the staff.  A space note has the ledger line just below the note, with the note sitting on top.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>And what about the Bass Clef? \u00a0The bottom staff is dedicated to the lower region of the piano, below Middle C. \u00a0The notes count down from Middle C. \u00a0So that means that the note sitting above the lines of the Bass Clef is B, and then they count down from there, with A, G, F, E, D, to C an octave below. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If all of this seems a little overwhelming, don\u2019t worry.  There are some useful tools you can use to help you remember the arrangement of these notes on the staff.  Rather than trying to memorize each note on the staff, you can use some helpful phrases instead.  The phrase \u2018Every Good Boy Does Fine\u2019 is commonly used to help memorize the lined notes written on the staff in the right hand.  If you want to memorize the <\/span>space <\/span><\/em>notes in the right hand, they spell out the word \u2018FACE.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>You can use phrases to help memorize the notes in the Bass Clef as well. \u00a0If you want to memorize the space notes in the Bass Clef, you can use the phrase \u2018All Cows Eat Grass.\u2019 \u00a0To memorize the lined notes in the Bass Clef, use the phrase \u2018Good Boys Deserve Food Always.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Using phrases like these is key to helping further your understanding of the grand staff. \u00a0But you don\u2019t have to use <\/span>these <\/span><\/em>phrases specifically! \u00a0Music is all about self expression, so go ahead and see what unique phrases you can come up with yourself!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready for your next lesson? You can learn all about music symbols in Lesson 3 of our series<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Missed Lesson 1? You can find that here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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