Piano Note Names

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An image of me welcoming you to the piano note lesson.

So, you just started learning to play the piano and you'd like to learn how to read piano music notes? Great that you arrived to this point in our beginning piano lessons.

In this piano lesson we will be using the names of the piano keys which we've learned about during the previous piano lesson.

Alfred's Basic Piano Course - Lesson Book Complete Level 1 (1a/1b)

O.k guys, here's the book I recommended on this piano tutorial. Have a look... Complete Level 1 is a faster-paced version of Levels 1A and 1B that gets to staff reading more quickly. Perfect for a student who is 8 or older, or for a younger beginner with great musical aptitude...more

Price $8.50

If you don't know the piano key names click here first to cover that issue.

"Short and simple, exactly the way it should be!"

How to Find Piano Notes on the Staff

The staff is made out of spaces and lines and this is how
we can tell which note we're supposed to play.

We use the staff in order to tell the name of a note.
Here it is. Look at it. The staff has five lines and four spaces.

I disinguish in the image between notes on the line and notes between the lines (on the spaces).

I disinguish in the image between notes on the line and notes between the lines (on the spaces).

We can write piano notes on the lines and between the lines. That's how we can tell the piano note names.

There a G letter in the belly of the treble tlef to indicate why it was forme that way.

There a G letter in the belly of the treble tlef to indicate why it was forme that way.

Since the piano has such a wide range of notes we need to use different clefs on the staff in order to define which area of the piano we're going to be playing with.

The treble clef for example is usually responsible for all the piano keys above middle C (which is the higher area/register of the piano).
It has a belly. The Belly looks like letter G with a little bit of imagination.

This image show wher the G note is located on the treble staff and on the keyboard

This image show wher the G note is located on the treble staff and on the keyboard

A cartoon of a confused man trying to read piano notes without success.

The treble clef is located on the second line which indicates that the G Key above middle C should be played.

As you can see the G note is located on the second line. If we go one step lower toward the first line we will get the F note which is located between the first and the second line.
If we continue going like that we can actually name all the other notes.

An script of the note on the trable staff going down from G to C.

An script of the note on the trable staff going down from G to C.

An image of a C note on the treble staff (With the ledger line).

Look at the C note. This note indicates that middle C should be played. Basically we're out of lines so what we need to do is add an extra line under the five lines of the staff.

What I'm saying is that besides the five lines of the staff there are more lines but they are imaginay lines.
We won't draw them fully because it will make notes reading pretty hard to do. Instead we will imagine these lines and only add a little line to the note just like in the image above.

So here are the notes in an ascending order, starting from middle C to G.
A script that show the notes on the staff starting from middle until G in comparison with their location on the keyboard.

A script that show the notes on the staff starting from middle until G in comparison with their location on the keyboard.

You can also Play "JaydeMusica". It;s a fun game included in the Rocket Piano Learning Kit which is designed to help you learn how to read music, with Rocket Piano for your enjoyment.

Here's an easy way to locate the notes quickly.
The piano notes between the lines make the word "FACE".
The letters that belong to the notes which are located on the lines create the initials for: "Every Good Boy Deservers Fudge".
A nice way to remember the notes on the lines (E,G,B,D,F=Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge) and note between the lines = FACE)

Now if you're looking for a great way to improve the speed of your notes reading I suggest you check out these great Teacher Resource Music Theory Treble Clef notes Cards from Ebay.
I use them with all my new students. We play a memory game together and there's no way better then playing a game to improve skills.

O.k., so now we know how to read notes on the treble clef. By now we can already choose some nice repertoire that will inspire us. Here are some great books I found on Ebay.

You can start playing your first little pieces with the ones I offer here for free. Enjoy and let me know if you have some problems!

Merrily We Roll Along
Download Play

By The Silvr'y Moonlight Download Play

From The New World
Download Play

Rain, Rain Download Play

Love Me Tender Download Play

Jingle Bells Download Play

Good King Wenceslas Download Play

Bure by Bach Download Play

When The Saints Go Marching In Download Play

An Image of me (David) showing satisfaction about our progress...

Before I'll teach you to read notes in the lower register I'd like to show you how to draw the treble clef in the next piano lesson.

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Return from Note Names to Read Piano Notes

Piano Notes Lessons
1. Intro	14. Dynamic Signs
2. Piano Keyboard Layout	15. Gradual and Sudden Dynamic Changes
3. Playing Melodies by Ear	16. Eighth Notes
4. Rhythm	17. The Sharp Sign
5.The Treble Staff	18. The Flat Sign
6. Draw a Treble Clef	19. The Natural Sign
7. The Bass Clef	20. Accent Marks
8.The Grand Staff	21. Music Terms for Beginners
9. Harmonic Intervals	22. Sixteenth Notes
10. The Dotted Half Note	23. Tempo Marks
11.The Quarter Rest	24. The Dotted Notes
12. The Half Rest	25. Triplets
13. The Whole Rest	26. Double Accidentals
27. A Review of Musical Terms