Draw five parallel horizontal lines on a piece of paper. These five lines represent the staff. The staff is the location of the music notes.
Draw a treble clef. The treble clef is also known as the "G" clef. This clef is most commonly used for instruments with a higher sound. The treble clef is made by making the letter "J," starting from the bottom. Once you reach the top of the "J," curve to the right, then to the left, making a swirl.
You can easily find an example of a treble clef within piano music. The higher register of the piano uses the treble clef. Drawing the treble clef is necessary in order for you to teach yourself to read music because it tells you where the notes are.
Write the specified letters on the lines of the staff with the treble clef. The letters on the staff correspond to the names of the notes. You have both line notes and space notes. The line notes occupy the lines, whereas the space notes represent the notes that are within the spaces. For the treble clef, the line notes consist of E, G, B, and F. The E is the line on the bottom of the staff, and the F is the line at the top of the staff. The space notes consist of F, A, C, and E. The F is represented by the space above the lowest line of the staff, and the E is represented by the space below the top line of the staff. Writing the notes on the lines and spaces will help you to memorize which notes are which when reading the treble clef. Once you become familiar with the locations of the notes of the treble clef, you will be able to read music more effectively.
Make another staff, and this time, draw the symbol of the bass clef. The bass clef resembles the number "7," but with a curved top. Next to this symbol, draw two dots, one directly over the other. This symbol is the bass clef. You can see an example of a bass clef within piano music. The lower register of the piano is represented by the bass clef.
The bass clef is generally used for instruments with a lower sound. The reason why you need to familiarize yourself with the bass clef is because with this clef, the letters of the notes are have different locations. In order to teach yourself to read music, you need to know which lines and spaces represent which notes for the bass clef.
Label the line notes and space notes for the bass clef. Starting from the bottom line to the top line, write the letters G, B, D, F, and A. Starting from the bottom space to the top space, write the letters A, C, E, and G. Memorize the letters that are symbolized by these positions. Within sheet music, the notes in these locations designate the letters of the notes that need to be played.