Familiarize yourself with the musical staff. The staff is the five lines and five spaces music notes are written on. All staves have a top and bottom portion, which is comprised of two sets of five lines and four spaces, positioned in vertical structure.
Learn the clefs and how they are structured on the musical staff. There are two basic clefs in piano music; the treble clef, also known as the G clef, and the bass clef, often referred to as the F clef. The top portion displays notes in treble clef and the bottom in bass clef. Treble clef notes are usually written to the right of C5, which is the thirty-third key centered on a piano, also known as middle C. Bass clef notes are written to the left of middle C.
Begin studying the the lines and spaces to prepare yourself for reading the actual notes on the staff. The five lines and spaces on the staff are always counted from bottom to top. You must remember this to identify the correct notes.
Start reviewing, memorizing, and identifying the five lines and four spaces of the treble clef on paper and on an actual piano. Once you know this staff information, you will be able to fluently understand the treble clef scales and identify any note on the staff. The first line at the bottom of a treble clef staff is the letter E. The first space in the treble clef staff is identified as F. Notes E and F are both to the immediate right of middle C on the piano, succeeding C and D on the piano's white keys.
Study the bass clef's notes and position on the keyboard once you have gained a thorough knowledge of the treble clef. The bass clef's note structure is similar to that of the treble clef, yet different. The first line at the bottom of the bass clef staff is G and the first space is A. These notes are located to the left of middle C on the piano.
Once you have begun to understand and recognize the notes on a staff, begin studying and familiarizing yourself with piano time signature. Piano time signature is just like reading a sentence. Each note's style and appearance are all related to time. The basic notes you need to become familiar with are the quarter note, half note and whole note. Each note is played for a specific number of seconds. Quarter notes are held for one count, half notes for two counts and whole notes for four counts. Each time you see one of these notes, hold that specific note down on the piano for that particular number of counts.