Level 1 (like Grade 1) · Unit 1 of 24
The staff, clefs and middle C
Five lines and four spaces, the treble and bass clefs, and the note that joins them: middle C.
By the end you will be able to:
- say whether a note is on a line or in a space
- recognize the treble and bass clefs
- find middle C on both staffs
Learn
Lines and spaces
Music is written on a staff: five lines with four spaces between them. We always count from the bottom, so the bottom line is line 1 and the top line is line 5.
A note is either ON a line – the line goes through the middle of it – or IN a space, between two lines. The higher a note sits on the staff, the higher it sounds.
The clefs
The sign at the start of the staff is the clef. It tells you which notes the lines and spaces are.
- The treble clef (also called the G clef) curls round line 2, the line for G above middle C. It is used for higher sounds: the right hand on the piano, recorder, flute, violin, trumpet and singing.
- The bass clef (the F clef) has two dots either side of line 4, the line for F below middle C. It is used for lower sounds: the left hand on the piano, cello, bass guitar, trombone and low voices.
Middle C
Middle C is the C near the middle of a piano keyboard. It sits on its own short line, called a ledger line, just below the treble staff – and the same note sits on a ledger line just above the bass staff. Put the two staffs together, with middle C between them, and you have the grand staff that piano music uses.
Your turn
Watch and listen, then practice with new questions every time – reading questions, and writing tasks you answer on the staff. Take the check when you are ready: 80% passes the unit.
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Level 1 is like Grade 1 music theory. These are Classfern’s own levels, not an exam board’s. Questions are made and graded by rules in your browser.