Treble clef
Which note sits on which line in the treble clef: the five lines are E4 · G4 · B4 · D5 · F5, the four spaces F4 · A4 · C5 · E5. With the ledger lines and where middle C falls.
The whole staff
A clef does exactly one thing: it puts one particular note on one particular line. The treble clef is also called the G clef, because its sign places G4 on the 2nd line. Everything else follows by itself: lines and spaces are a ladder without gaps, and every step up is the next letter.
Line by line
| Position | Note |
|---|---|
| 5th line | F5 |
| 4th space | E5 |
| 4th line | D5 |
| 3rd space | C5 |
| 3rd line | B4 |
| 2nd space | A4 |
| 2nd line | G4 |
| 1st space | F4 |
| 1st line | E4 |
How to remember it
Lines from the bottom: E G B D F — »Every Good Boy Does Fine«. Spaces: F A C E, which spells a word for what you see in a mirror.
Above and below the staff
Anything higher or lower than the staff gets short ledger lines. They are not an exception but the same ladder, counted on.
Where middle C sits
In the treble clef middle C sits on the first ledger line below the staff. In the bass clef the same C sits on the first ledger line above — which is why the two staves of a piano score fit together: exactly one line is missing between them, and that is where C would be.
Who reads it
Right hand at the piano, violin, flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, guitar (sounding an octave lower than written) and nearly every voice.
The other clefs
Anotona does this for you
Photograph a page of sheet music or play the melody — Anotona finds the key, engraves the notes and transposes them into any other. Free.
See AnotonaEvery note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.