The grand staff and octaves

Join both clefs on the grand staff and name the octave of any note.

The grand staff

Piano music is written on two staves at once: the treble clef on top for the right hand, the bass clef below for the left. A brace joins them, and together they are called the grand staff.

C4 sits between the staves: on the first ledger line below the treble staff and on the first ledger line above the bass staff. It is the same key, in the middle of the keyboard.

The lower staff: from C3 up to C4

The upper staff goes on: from C4 to C5

When a note on the upper staff is below C4, or one on the lower staff is above it, it is easier to write it on the other staff: fewer ledger lines.

Practice: Notes of the upper staff

Practice: Notes of the lower staff

Practice: One key, two clefs

Octaves

There are only seven note names but 88 keys on a piano. So notes are grouped into octaves, each running from C up to the next B. Every octave starts on C and has the same seven names.

To name a note exactly, add its octave number: C4, G2, E5.

Where octaves begin on the keyboard: each C starts a new one

C2, C3 and C4 in the bass clef

C4, C5 and C6 in the treble clef

Octaves are numbered from the bottom of the piano: its lowest C is C1 and its highest is C8. Octave 4 is in the middle, starting at C4, which is why C4 is called middle C. Most music that people sing lies in octaves 3, 4 and 5.

Practice: Which octave?

Practice: Find the note on the keyboard