The course › Unit 4: Reading the treble clef
Lesson 24 of 72 · Three more notes, and a new landmark in the 3rd space
Keep going up from G (2nd line): A in the 2nd space, B on the 3rd line, the middle one, then C in the 3rd space.
This C is your third landmark: treble C, one octave above middle C. To remember it: it’s just above the middle line.
G (2nd line), A (2nd space), B (3rd line), treble C (3rd space).
Tip: Your hand only covers five keys: for these new notes, it opens up or moves. In Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, it opens a little so your pinky can reach A.
Play each note in its exact place. For A, B and treble C, move your hand to the right if you need to.
Compare your two Cs: middle C, on its ledger line below the staff, and treble C, in the 3rd space. Same name, same color of sound, just higher: an octave separates them, eight white keys.
From C to C: eight notes, one octave. Line, space, line, space…
Why this way: With your three landmarks (middle C, G, treble C), no note in this octave is more than a step or a skip away from a landmark: D and E near middle C, F and A around G, B just below treble C. That’s the whole point of landmark notes.
Read the complete song. In measures 5 and 6, it climbs up to A. At the end, the bells leap up to treble C: we wrote them an octave higher than usual to keep them on the staff.
As many right notes as you can in 60 seconds, from middle C to treble C. Think of your three landmarks!
Read it calmly, at your own pace. A appears in the 2nd measure, just above G.
And now in rhythm. Did you know? Mozart wrote twelve piano variations on this tune, known in France as Ah! vous dirai-je, maman. Measures 1–2: open hand (G with finger 4, A with 5). Measure 3: your hand comes back to C position.
← Lesson 23: Reading by intervals Lesson 25: The bass clef and Bass F →