The treble clef is the curled symbol at the start of the upper staff. It fixes the second line from the bottom as G above middle C, which is why it is also called the G clef.
Everything on that staff is read from the G. The curl of the symbol actually wraps around the G line, which is a hint hiding in plain sight for four hundred years.
How to spot it
Play the Treble Clef (Notation Glossary)
Tap the highlighted keys — any order.
G
The treble clef is the curled symbol at the start of the upper staff. It fixes the second line from the bottom as G above middle C, which is why it is also…
It is the ornate spiral at the left-hand end of the top staff. If you can only remember one thing about it: the loop encircles the G line.
Find it in thirty seconds
Find the treble clef on any piece, trace the curl to the line it wraps, and name that line: G. Then name the note sitting on the line above it: B.
Open any piece of sheet music on this site and do it now. Reading is a recognition skill, and recognition is built by finding things, not by reading about them.
Related Topics...
How to Read Sheet Music: Learn how to read sheet music using interactive lessons from Chordzy. Or browse our various reading music topics.
Music Notation Glossary: Every symbol on a page of piano music, explained in one sentence each, clefs, note values, rests, accidentals, dynamics and repeat marks.
Bass Clef: Bass Clef in piano music. The bass clef is the symbol at the start of the lower staff. Its two dots sit either side of the fourth line up, fixing that line as…
Grand Staff: Grand Staff in piano music. The grand staff is the pair of staves piano music is written on: treble clef on top for the right hand, bass clef underneath for th…
Middle C: Middle C in piano music. Middle C is the C nearest the middle of the piano, and the note that sits on its own little ledger line between the two staves of pian…
Staff: Staff in piano music. The staff is the set of five horizontal lines that piano music is written on. A note's vertical position on those lines and the spaces be…
More in This Section
Triplet: Triplet in piano music. A triplet is three notes played in the time of two of the same value, marked with a small 3 above or below the group.
Whole Note: Whole Note in piano music. A whole note is a hollow note head with no stem, and it lasts four beats in common time, a full measure of 4/4.
Readers Also Look For
How to Read Piano Sheet Music: How to read piano sheet music: treble and bass clefs, lines and spaces, the grand staff, ledger lines, and finding each note on the keys.
