Reading Music for the Piano & Learning Note Names of the Grand Staff
The notes in alphabetical order:
HERE IS THE SHORTCUT!!!
If you use these mnemonic devices or memorization tricks, your reading will become much quicker. You won’t have to be counting up all the time! This is also a good tool for helping kids remember the lines and spaces on the grand staff of the sheet music.
In the treble cleff (the top staff) use this (PDF - JPG Print Out):
“FACE is for the Space” (This one rhymes)
“Every Good Boy Does Fine is for the lines” (This one is rhyming as well)
or “Elephants Go Bouncing Down Freeways”
Rhyming will help you with the memorizing.
In the bass cleff (the bottom staff) use:
Spaces: “All Cows Eat Grass” or “All Cars Eat Gas”
Lines: “Good Burritos Don’t Fall Apart” or “Good Butterflies Don’t Fly Away”
[...] to help with memorization. In the bass cleff the bottom staff use: Spaces: ???All Cows Eat Grass???http://fastpianolessons.com/blog/?p=14Guitar Theory Resources Where Is Middle CThe Great Staff was too large and confusing for reading [...]
Good Point I’ve added a scale to help clarify things.
Hi! Im from Mexico
I just wanna to say Im just barely started, and this trick I like it..is excellent thanks.
I take classes here in my state but my teacher is no help me to teach me more chords or how read sheet music, I only know the chords because he gave me a song, the classes is more kind like a memory, I have to use my memory to learn the song the I want it. Is a little help perhaps but I want more..and I think this web its gonna be the great way to learn!!
Thanks Chris!!
Chris Marx your a GENIOUS <—might be spelled wrong. ever since i went on this site i have learned alot i have learn one your christmas song that you hvae sent me on my email well thank you for everything you have done here.
Enkhbat
Oh yea one more thing do you know any Elton John music’s? And if you do can you post it? Thanks
Enkhbat
Hey Enkhbat!
There is the introduction to Elton John’s “Your Song” on the blog. Just do a search for it in the search box on the sidebar.
Glad you liked the Christmas songs!
Thank you very much hope 1 day in the future I will send you my perfect performance as a thank
this was very helpful…liked it alot!!!
hi, fantastic, I loved your version of Santeria
Could you please try and make a tutorial of You rock my world by Michael Jackson, I’m terrible but I really want to learn that song, really, I can’t even play jingle bells well
Whether the mnemonics are your own or generally used in the old colonies, they are much better than the ones we were taught here in Blighty. We have Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit and for the bass Good Boys Deserve Fruit Always; stupid, confusing. They need to be completely distinct like yours.
Regarding the ‘Great Staff’ (as ‘treble cleff’??) refers to it (makes me think of Moses!), it seems to me that it’s bonkers. There’s a great no man’s land between the two staves (?) and it appears that when there’s an extra line below the top thingy, the line is ‘C’ (middle C) and when there’s an extra line above the bottom thingamy it is also C (middle C). If whoever foist this thing on the world just put two lines into the no man’s land, then the upper and lower staves would both be FACE and EGBDF. (And if you wanted to show which octave was being referred to you could just put numbers like you do on some of your videos where you have that clever graphic with the blue notes.) Or am I greatly mistaken? Probably, but please explain why they _have_ to be different — if you have time, and if this is not too theoretical. Thanks Chris.
Hey John!
I’m not sure I complete understand the multiple parts of the question.
I have a feeling that the treble and bass clef were invented before the piano (for other instruments), and they decided to combine these two when they needed to write music for the piano. Thats just a thought though.
Your idea of having both staves be treble clef would work just fine and probably be easier for beginning readers, but you’d have a difficult time finding music written that way…
I also agree with you on the no mans land as well. I think they should line up the middle C in the bass and treble cleff. Rather than having two different spots for the same notes.
Hope that helped?
Thanks!
Chris Marx
Hi Parthenia!
I don’t know that song, its a great song though! I don’t think there are that many chords.
Try googling “you rock my world” “sheet music”
I remember that was my favorite song for a couple weeks when the music video came out!!!
Thanks!
Chris Marx
Thank you!
Chris Marx
Hi… just wanna to thankyou by this techniques. These are great. I´ve allways wanted to learn pianno, chords, etc and i’ve search here and there and learned a few things but this one’s the best book i’ve found till now. Thx. By the way do you know where i can find sheet music witj the letter bellow the musci simbols? For example i have a B flat in the scale and blow the now shoes B and the simbol b (flat). Cause like this i think i can memorize even more faster the notes simbols.
im still confused
Hi Mario,
I would try the EZ PLAY TODAY series. They write all the names of the notes in each note!
Thanks,
Chris Marx
Hello Chris,
I just want to say that your blog helps me a lot to refresh my memory , I’ve learnt how to play a piano three years ago, and when I get back to my studies, your lessons are really great to start again:)
Thanks a lot for your kind help!
Vicky
Hi Sir,
Sir I’m a beginner all about piano, i don’t know what’s the meaning of many many things about piano. Just like treble cleff, bass cleff, grand staff and etc.
I would like to know the do,re,mi,fa,so,la,ti,do of each chords/key. I only know is the basic chords of them,I’am a keyboardist of our 4 Square Gospel Church here in Philippines. i would like to improve my skill of keyboading(—-_____—–)
I am really-really proud of your desire to help/teach us about all this things. So i thank you Sir Chris for this. I’m just 18 yrs. old Sir, Born Again Christian.
Tnx!!!
May God Bless You Sir!!!!
KeN
Thanks Chris Marx
Can you send me the past word for the e-book. I looked at it and did not download it. And now I can”t open it without a password.
Vicky!
so glad to help!
Piano is funny… I found when I practiced classical music, I would have to practice every week or risk forgetting the songs I practiced.
Once I started playing with chords and from fakebooks, it became more like learning to ride a bike. Something you never forget!
Thanks,
Chris Marx
Dear Chris
Thank you so for your help. I have been taking classical lessons for about 20 years however my dyslexia makes my notereading so slow that I cant keep in musical time.
I was so impressed with your lessons that I bought the hard copy of rocket piano and I beleivie I am finally going to finally get my playing together. I just got 100 percent on rocket piano chord recognition advanced game. I just need to learn how to break up those chords in my playing. My goal is to be able to play Sarah McLaughlins “Angel” for the old folks at the nursing home I volunteer at soon. I am in your debt.
Suzanne
Hi Chris Marx!
The memorization tricks, were great. Now, I can better remember them, because before I actually used to counting up.
Thank you very much Chris!
Candice
Hi, your site is good. But I have to put more time to it. I just had a few glance but I can see it works. I wanna know how do I find music scores or sheet, (what do you call them? the paper with notes) for the song Everything I do (I do it for you) by Bryan Adams? I am really a beginner. Thanks to you for your site. Have a great day
I like your site but im having problems at reading the notes.
Thanks Chris ; D
Hi, Chris!
Just wanted to say a big thank you for all the notes and lessons you put up here for free; very much appreciated.
Thanks again!
A.
No problem Aatish!
I want to be your go to guy for piano information online. So ask lots of questions!
Thanks!
Hi!
I just began this course….I have two questions….well, the first might be stupid but: if the notes are do, re, mi…etc what’s the use of the C D E name or why do we have to learn them appart (F A C E versus E G B D F )?….and what are the names of the black notes?
The other question is more particular. I can’t play with all my left-hand fingers. Is it possible to try your course without the two smaller ones? They are impaired and actually my strong instrument is my voice, but I want to learn how to play the piano! Do you have any tip? Thanx. This site is great!
Ana, from Mexico city
i have been looking for these everywhere. i am teaching my sister piano and i couldn’t remember the rhymes so thank you very much!
Thank you, I left you a long comment on another section. I love the Blues. I am from New Orleans and mabe thats why. I just had 3 surguries and I’m working my way back Thank You Im glad Ifound your website. Lanny
Thank you for your useful lessons that are so clearly easily to follow.
beautiful stuff man, i can play piano and a bit of guitar but i never knew how to read music and not to mention charts. THIS IS A GOOD PLACE TO START
Thankss for this wonderful keyboard!
It really helps in class when i don’t know what scale it is.!!!!
-Natalieee <3 (:
Hi Chris!
Im Georgia from Greece im new in the blog and i ‘m a totally beginner…The problem is that i try to learn piano by my self.I dont expect to be a proffesional i just like to play some songs on the piano corectly.So i dont understand a thing about the treble cleff the chords etc…So i wondered if you could make a video showing the basics about piano so that i can understand a few thimgs about it or anything else you think can help me.
Hope you can do this for me!!
thnks a lot!!!;)
Hey it’s Natalie again. This thing is reallty helping it’s just that i gert bored in classs so i just come down here and write.
So yeahh BYE!
-NATALIE<3
Omg….. I’m a beginner to play pipano actually a keyboard…. Actually I can read notes but I need to count it first before I can play it.. hehehehehe… this will help me a lot….. tnx….. but I can only play the basic songs like london bridge is falling down… and I hope I can play a higher level song with the help of this site.. I’m a filipino.. Tnx a lot…..
Hi Sir!
I’m a begginer and this is the first time that I’m going to study all about piano lessons and at this lesson I’m confuse, I’m still looking for more about this lesson…..
Thanks……….
chris tem um poblema pra mim que sou aqui do brasil ta dificil
pois ta tudo em inglês
e o meu inguels não é tão bom
se vc poder me responder no meu email eu agradeço