How to Read Guitar Notes on Sheet Music in Treble Clef
- 1). Look at a piece of guitar sheet music. On the treble clef staff, there are five lines with a space between each line, making four spaces in all. The bottom line is an E note, the space right above that is an F note, the line above that is a G note, the space above that is an A note and so on. So, the five lines are (in order from bottom to top) E, G, B, D, F. A way to remember this is, "Every Good Boy Does Fine." The four spaces (in order from bottom to top) are F, A, C, E. A way to remember this is the word "Face." Also, there can be additional notes outside of the music staff. They follow similar rules in that the space below the bottom E line is a D, a line below that would be a C and so on. Same with above the staff. The space above the top line (the F line) is a G, then the line above that would be an A, and so on.
- 2). Try to memorize notes on the staff. Get comfortable with where each note is and how to read the music. If you're stuck, just remember, "Every good boy does fine" for the notes on the lines of the staff and "Face" for the spaces between the lines. Also, get comfortable with the notes that fall outside the music staff. They once again go in order, with a space followed by a line, followed by a space, followed by a line and so on.
- 3). Pick up a guitar. Look at a piece of sheet music. A note on the bottom E line would naturally mean an E needs to be played on the guitar. In this case, this E corresponds to the second fret on the D string. This same note can be played other places on the guitar, such as the seventh fret on the A string or the twelfth fret of the low E string. So an open bottom E string would mean, on sheet music, an E written well below the bottom of the music staff, specifically in a space below the third additional line below the bottom line of the staff.
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