Familiarize your child with the musical alphabet–A through G repeating over and over again. Have the child practice saying the musical alphabet both forward and backward to cement the pattern in her mind.
Begin to associate the note names with the corresponding lines and spaces on the musical staff. Use mnemonics, a system to assist memory, to help keep the order straight. For instance, in the treble clef, the spaces in order from bottom to top are F, A, C, and E, spelling the word "face." Or in the bass clef, the lines from bottom to top could be represented by the sentence "Good Boys Do Fine Always."
Test your child on his knowledge of the note names using flashcards. Hold up the flashcard, and have them say the name of the note on the card correctly before moving on to the next one. Keep testing the child until he is able to identify the note name correctly within two seconds.
Increase your child’s fluency with the note system by having her sit in front of a piano or keyboard while you put the flashcards up in front of her. Have the child play the corresponding note on the keyboard and say the note name at the same time. This is not necessary, but it helps to fix the concept in the child’s mind.
Introduce your child to the concept of rhythm. Have them learn the four basic kinds of notes: whole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes, and the number of beats represented by each. For example, in common time, the half note is two beats, and the eighth note is half a beat.