How to read piano sheet music: the grand staff

Two staves and a brace

The brace at the left and the line through both staves say they are read together: everything lined up one above the other is played at the same moment. The upper staff has the treble clef, its lines E, G, B, D and F from the bottom up; the lower staff has the bass clef, its lines G, B, D, F and A. Each clef has its own guide: the treble clef and the bass clef.

Middle C, between the staves

The top line of the bass staff is A₃ and the bottom line of the treble staff is E₄. Between them are only B₃, C₄ and D₄, with middle C exactly halfway. Written in the treble staff, middle C is on the first ledger line below the staff; in the bass staff it is on the first ledger line above the staff. It is the same key either way, and so are the notes either side of it, whichever staff they are written in.

So the grand staff is one staff of eleven lines with middle C's line left out, from G₂ on the bottom line to F₅ on the top, every line two white keys above the one below it.

Which hand reads which staff

The right hand mostly plays the treble staff and the left hand the bass staff. In the first position Clefsight teaches, both thumbs share middle C: the right hand reads C₄, D₄, E₄, F₄ and G₄ up the treble staff, and the left hand C₄, B₃, A₃, G₃ and F₃ down the bass staff. Next, the left hand moves down to C₃, an octave lower, so each hand has five notes of its own: C₄, D₄, E₄, F₄ and G₄ in the right, C₃, D₃, E₃, F₃ and G₃ in the left.

The staff is a guide, not a rule. When one hand reaches far towards the other, its notes are sometimes written on the other staff, and the stems, a fingering or a written “r.h.” or “l.h.” say which hand. Check the clef at the start of each line too: a staff can change clef partway through a piece.

Landmarks across both staves

Learn these by sight. Every other note on the grand staff is a step or a skip from one of them.

• C₂, low C: on the second ledger line below the bass staff
• C₃, bass C: in the second space up of the bass staff
• F₃, the note between the clef's two dots: on the fourth line up of the bass staff
• C₄, middle C: on the first ledger line below the treble staff, or on the first ledger line above the bass staff
• G₄, the note the clef curls round: on the second line up of the treble staff
• C₅, treble C: in the third space up of the treble staff
• C₆, high C: on the second ledger line above the treble staff

The grand staff is a mirror round middle C: each bass landmark has a twin the same distance above it, in the same place counted from the top of the treble staff instead of the bottom of the bass. F₃ on the fourth line up, G₄ on the fourth line down; C₃ in the second space up, C₅ in the second space down; C₂ on the second ledger line below the bass staff, C₆ on the second ledger line above the treble staff.

Reading a chord across the staves

Notes stacked one above the other are played together even when they are on different staves. Read from the bottom up, the left hand first: its lowest note says where you are, then the right hand's shape. C₃ and G₃ in the left hand and E₄, G₄ and C₅ in the right are five keys but only three letters, C, E and G: the C major triad spread over both hands (more in the chords guide).

The trap

Reading one staff at a time: the right hand's line first, then back for the left. The hands come apart and the beat stops. Read down each beat instead, bass note first, and let the hands land together. When the two clefs blur, middle C is the way back: on the first ledger line below the staff in the treble, on the first ledger line above the staff in the bass.