How to Read Pitch

VIDEO

READING

In music, pitch is how high or low a note sounds.

There are seven “natural” pitches: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

Each pitch is assigned a line or space on the staff.

This is what a staff looks like:

The staff itself is made of the 5 horizontal lines and the 4 spaces between the lines. The symbol at the beginning of this staff is called a treble clef. It tells us the pattern of letters that we use for each line and space. Most musical instruments use the treble clef. Some instruments that play mostly low pitches, like the tuba, use a bass clef.

A staff with a bass clef looks like this:

The bass clef tells us that we use a different pattern of letters on the lines and spaces.

Some instruments that can play many different pitches will use both clefs. The piano is one example of an instrument that uses both clefs. This is what piano music looks like:

Here is the pattern of letters for the lines and spaces of the Treble Clef:

Here is the pattern of letters for the lines and spaces of the Bass Clef:

For an instrument that uses both Treble and Bass Clef, like the Piano, you need to know both patterns.

To know what pitch to play on your instrument for each note, you look at the head of the note. Whichever line or space the note head is on tells you what letter pitch to play.

For example, the head of this note is on the 3rd space of the treble clef:

If you know your pattern of lines and spaces for the treble clef, you know that the 3rd space is C, so that is the pitch you would play on your instrument.

Here is another example. This note's head is on the 4th line of the treble clef:

If you know your pattern of lines and spaces for the treble clef, you know that the 4th line is D, so that is the pitch you would play on your instrument.

It is also important to understand that, in addition to the patterns on the lines and spaces, the pitches move upward in alphabetical order, as shown here:

Since there are only 7 letters in the musical alphabet, after "G", it starts back again at "A".

Also, you can only fit 9 notes on the lines and spaces of a staff. Most instruments play more than 9 pitches. Notes that show pitches higher or lower than the staff go on or between ledger lines. Here are some notes on ledger lines:

Since pitches move in alphabetical order on the staff, when playing notes on ledger lines it is best to use this knowledge to figure out the pitch you are supposed to play on your instrument.

Another important thing to realize is that there are 3 notes between the bass and treble clef. The two notes below are the same pitch:

The 3 pitches between the bass and treble clef are B, C, and D. They are the same pitches, even though they look different. This is what they look like when they are labeled:

One way that people have helped themselves memorize the lines and spaces of the staff is to assign a word to each letter to create easily memorized sentences.

For example:

In this picture, the lines of the treble clef are labeled “Every Green Bus Drives Fast”.

The spaces are “F-A-C-E spells “face”.

In the bass clef, the spaces are “All Cows Eat Grass”, and the lines are “Green Busses Drive Fast Always”.

Between the Bass and Treble Clef, the 3 notes B, C, and D are labeled “Be Cool, Dude”.

To further help with memory, we can sing this as a song:

Every Green Bus Drives Fast

F-A-C-E spells “face”

All Cows Eat Grass

Green Busses Drive Fast Always

Be Cool, Dude

Be Cool, Dude

The song is almost done

Be Cool, Dude

Be Cool, Dude

I hope that you have fun

For some people, memorizing a song is easier than just remembering what line or space each letter goes on. The ultimate goal, however, is to instantly recognize which pitch to play when you see a note. All it takes is time and practice!