Music Theory 101

This course will become read-only in the near future. Tell us at community.p2pu.org if that is a problem.

Task Navigation 

The Treble Clef

There are different "clefs" in music. A clef is a musical symbol that tells you what the letter/pitch is of written notes on a staff.

A "Staff" is five horizontal lines in which you read music from left to right. Circles can be drawn on the bottom, the lines, the spaces, or the top to represent different notes and their registry from low to high.

The most commonly used "clef" is The Treble Clef which symbol looks like this.

 

Now when this symbol is attached onto a staff, it means that the lines, and spaces of the staff will be specific notes. So if a different symbol were attached to a staff it would still be the same musical alphabet letters but in different positions.

 

This is what a staff without a clef on it looks like.

So when the clef is attached to the staff it is in the beginning/at the front so you know what notes coincide on the staff.

 

So now there are 5 lines. I count them from bottom to top. The bottom line being 1 and the top line being 5. This means there are 4 spaces, once again counting from bottom to top. The space in between line 1 & 2 is space 1 and the space in between line 4 & 5 is space 4. The bottom of the staff which is below the first line I don't like to call a space because it isn't a space. It's a massive gap or a hole, so I just say it's the bottom. Same as the top which is above the 5th line.

 

So 1 way to understand/memorize it is this way:

 

  • The bottom of the staff is the note/letter - D
  • The first line of the staff is the note/letter - E
  • The first space of the staff is the note/letter - F
  • The second line of the staff is the note/letter - G
  • The second space of the staff is the note/letter - A
  • The third line of the staff is the note/letter - B
  • The third space of the staff is the note/letter - C
  • The fourth line of the staff is the note/letter - D
  • The fourth space of the staff is the note/letter - E
  • The fifth line of the staff is the note/letter - F
  • The top of the staff is the note/letter - G

 

Now that way is kind of weird. I like separating it into three groups like this:

  • The bottom of the staff is the note/letter - D
  • The top of the staff is the note/letter - G

 

  • The first line of the staff is the note/letter - E
  • The second line of the staff is the note/letter - G
  • The third line of the staff is the note/letter - B
  • The fourth line of the staff is the note/letter - D
  • The fifth line of the staff is the note/letter - F
  •  

Some people make up silly mnemonics like Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge or whatever you would like, for the lines of a staff.

 

Now for the spaces:

  • The first space of the staff is the note/letter - F
  • The second space of the staff is the note/letter - A
  • The third space of the staff is the note/letter - C
  • The fourth space of the staff is the note/letter - E

That one is easy since it spells out FACE.

 

Here is an infographic to also show this:

 

Now for your task!

 

I am going to post a picture of a treble clef with some notes on it (the circles that you see in the first example) and I want you to write in the task discussion part what letters the circles refer/coincide to.

So if there is a circle drawn on the first line you will just write down E. And make sure you put the notes in order. Another example is if I put a circle on the 4th space, 3rd line, 1st space, and bottom you would answer it like this:  E, B, F, D

Here is your problem!

 

Task Discussion