Identify the starting point of the keyboard music. Musicians write music on a staff, which is a series of five horizontal lines and four spaces in between that run across the page. Keyboard music uses two staffs connected with a large bracket. Musicians call this a grand staff.
Identify the musical symbols called clefs at the beginning of each staff. These clefs determine the location of the musical letters on the staff. A treble clef is usually on the higher staff and is a single line that swirls around itself. A bass clef goes on the lower staff and resembles a backwards "C." Generally speaking, the right hand will play the treble clef staff while the left hand plays the bass clef staff.
Identify the letter that belongs on each line and space of the treble staff. The letters that reside in the four spaces of the treble staff spell the word "FACE" when read from the bottom to the top of the staff. Most beginning students use the phrase "Every Good Boy Does Fine" when identifying the order of the letters on the lines of the staff. The first letter of each subsequent word is the letter that belongs on the next line, starting with the bottom line.
Identify the letters that belong on each line and space of the bass staff. Some students use the phrase "All Cows Eat Grass" when identifying the letters of the spaces and "Good Boys Do Fine Always" for the letters on the lines. This technique is similar to the technique used on the treble staff where the first letter of each subsequent word is the letter that belongs on the next line or space, starting at the bottom.