Day 21: Music Reading Basics
Monday, April 20th, 2026
Quiz Friday, April 24th — Music reading quiz covering clef identification and note reading on the staff. Use this week’s practice time on musictheory.net to prepare.
Warmup
Check out this presentation on music reading basics. As you follow along, pay attention to the three clef types and the anchor note that each one names on the staff.
The three clefs:
| Clef | Also called | Anchor note | Where on the staff |
|---|---|---|---|
| G clef | Treble clef | G | The curl wraps around the second line from the bottom |
| F clef | Bass clef | F | The two dots sit above and below the fourth line from the bottom |
| C clef | Alto / Tenor clef | Middle C | The center of the symbol marks middle C |
Once you know where the anchor note sits, you can count up or down the lines and spaces to find any other note.
- I can name all three clef types.
- I know which line or space each clef anchors to.
Work Session: musictheory.net Practice
Mr. Willingham will walk you through the basics behind music reading. We need some basic music reading skills to proceed with making more interesting musical projects.
Work through the note-reading exercises. Focus on treble and bass clef first — these are the most common.
Start with the easy set and work your way up:
Work at your own pace. If a note trips you up, go back to the anchor note for that clef and count from there.
Standards
- MSMTC8.RE.2 — Analyze how the structure and context of varied musical works inform the response (reading standard music notation to understand pitch in a score).
- MSMTC8.PR.1 — Select varied musical works to present based on interest, knowledge, technical skill, and context (applying music reading skills to identify notation for performance and transcription).
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