How to play
- Choose treble, bass or both clefs, and a range of notes.
- Press Start the round. A note appears on the staff: play its key, in the octave it is written.
- Right, and the next note comes at once. Wrong, and the right key lights up in blue for a moment.
- After 60 seconds the round ends and the page shows your score, your average time and the notes that held you up.
The ranges
Each range is a stage of the reading guides, so the guide beside it teaches the same notes.
- Middle C positionThe notes round middle C.Treble: C4, D4, E4, F4 and G4Bass: C3, D3, E3, F3, G3, A3, B3 and C4The treble clef and bass clef guides
- LandmarksThe whole staff, from the landmark Cs.Treble: C4, D4, E4, F4, G4, A4, B4, C5, D5, E5, F5, G5 and C6Bass: C2, F2, G2, A2, B2, C3, D3, E3, F3, G3, A3, B3 and C4The treble clef and bass clef guides
- Ledger linesAbove and below the staff.Treble: A3, B3, C4, A5, B5, C6, D6 and E6Bass: A1, B1, C2, D2, E2, C4, D4 and E4The ledger lines guide
Questions
Do I need a piano keyboard to play?
No. On a phone or tablet, play the notes on the keys on screen. On a computer, the letter keys play too: A is the C marked on the keys, and the row from A to ; runs up the white keys, with W, E, T, Y, U, O and P for the black keys between. A MIDI keyboard plugged in by USB works in Chrome, Edge and Firefox on a computer, and in Chrome on Android.
Why play the note instead of pressing its letter?
Reading music means seeing a note and finding its key without stopping to name it. Playing the key trains exactly that: each note has one key, in one octave, so a C on the second ledger line above isn't the same answer as middle C.
How is a round scored?
A round lasts 60 seconds. Each right key counts one and the next note comes at once; a wrong key shows the right one for a moment, which costs time. At the end you see how many were right, your average time per note, and the notes that held you up, circled in red pencil.
Is my best score kept?
Yes, one best for each clef and range, kept in this browser on this device. Every answer also goes into your reading profile, the same as a drill, so Clefsight's practice knows which notes you read quickly and which you don't.
Learn the notes first: the treble clef, the bass clef, ledger lines, or the piano notes chart with every note over its key.
Then read a real page: connect a keyboard and play pieces from the library, graded note by note.