Reading treble and bass clefs

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Reading the staff

A clef anchors a staff position to a pitch. Treble clef marks G on the second line; bass clef marks F on the fourth line, between its dots. The same written position can therefore mean different notes in different clefs.

In piano music the upper and lower staves often help organise the hands, but they do not rigidly assign every note to one hand. A clef change alters notation coordinates, not the sounding passage by itself. Check clef, signature and meter before reading.

Example

The second line is G in treble clef and B in bass clef.

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Which line lies between the dots of bass clef?

Related topics

References

Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom

Subject-expert review pending.