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Sheet Music

Grand staff

Do not think about the two staves separately, but think of it as one very big staff indicating notes continuously, and the middle of the two staves is Middle C. This is called the Grand Staff.

  • A fifth up your middle C is G, which is why you have your G clef, and a fifth below your middle C is F, which is why you have your F clef.
  • The (grand) staff doesn’t just indicate notes, it also relies on intervals, and this is important because the music for which this writing system exists for relies on intervalic harmony and function. That’s why the F clef is important and that’s the reason it’s not another G clef.

Remember, the space between the notes in a staff do not correspond to distance in terms of semitone; only in terms of scale degree (e.g. 3rd, 5th)

Landmark system

The landmark system is about memorizing a certain set of "special" notes: the landmark notes

Notice:

  • Middle C is one ledger line below the treble clef, and one ledger line above the bass clef
    • in fact, any C note on one clef is located at the mirrored position of the other clef (middle C would be the mirror itself).
  • The next 2 notes (Treble G and Bass F) are 4 notes away from middle C.
  • The next 2 notes (Treble C and Bass C) are 3 notes away from Treble G and Bass F (respectively)

source

Nmeumonics

one whole space up corresponds to a 3rd interval

  • ex. one note on the line and another on the next line

  • ex. one note in a space and another in the next space

  • In the bass clef, the middle line is a d, which can be seen as a backward b, which is the middle line of the treble clef

  • For treble clef, the hugging notes are dog

  • For bass clef, the hugging notes are Fat Bitch

  • for treble clef, the 2 outside lines spell out A-C

  • for bass clef, the 2 outside lines spell out C-E

  • the note between the 2 outside lines is the same note as the middle line

    • treble: b
    • bass: d

Bass Clef lines (top to bottom):

  • aqueduct
  • feeder
  • duck
  • bat
  • grass

Bass Clef spaces (top to bottom)

  • gallery
  • elevator
  • cellar
  • aquifer

Treble Clef lines (top to bottom)

  • f
  • d
  • bracelet
  • g
  • e

Treble clef spaces (top to bottom)

  • eye
  • crib
  • alarm
  • fire

Patterns

  • All of the Cs look symmetrical.
  • The top line of any clef is the same letter as the bottom space.
  • The top space is always the same letter as the bottom line

If you notice these things, there are only 3 notes you'd ever have to think about and they are sequential.

Bass clef: The bottom line is G so the top space is G The bottom space is A so the top line is A. If you memorize the Cs, you know the second space is C. That leaves the middle line, the third space, and the 4th line from the bottom up (always read from the bottom up) the 4th line is F because it's on the line F clef is drawn on leaving just D and E to memorize.

Resources

UE Resources