The course › Unit 4: Reading the treble clef
Lesson 21 of 72 · Line, space, line: the first three notes you read
Start from middle C, on its little line. Go up one key: D is written just below the staff, hanging under the 1st line. Go up again: E is on the 1st line.
Look at the pattern: C on a line, D in a space, E on a line. Each time you go up one white key, you move from a line to the space just above, or from a space to the next line.
C (ledger line), D (below the staff), E (1st line).
Why this way: The notes you read in the exercises become cards in your daily review: the app brings them back at the right moment, just before you forget them. It’s called spaced repetition, a well-researched way to remember things for the long term.
Play each note in its exact place. Keep your hand in C position: thumb on middle C.
The keys still light up: use that to read the staff at the same time, and say each note’s name out loud.
This time nothing lights up: read the staff. Do you recognize the little song from unit 1, moved to the white keys? In the 3rd measure, the quick notes are eighth notes.
Read the three notes, then play them in order.
As many right notes as you can in 45 seconds! The G of the clef joins in too.
You’ve read it on the staff: now in rhythm, with the accompaniment. A classic three-note nursery tune. Measure 3 switches to eighth notes: two notes per beat.
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