Year 7 Music · Making Music — Compose and Perform · 8m read

Pitch, the Treble Clef and Scales

Notes on the stave tell you which pitches to play. Once you can read them, a whole world of music opens up.

Learning objective: Read notes on the treble clef and play a C major scale.

By the end of this lesson you can:

• I can name notes on the treble stave.
• I can explain what a scale is.
• I can play or sing a C major scale.

The piano keyboard is a map. The white keys are a repeating street of seven houses named A to G. The black keys come in groups of two and three — landmarks that help you find your way. C is always just left of the group of two black keys, like the house next to the corner shop.

Pitch, the Treble Clef and Scales

THE STAVE:
• Five lines and four spaces.
• Treble clef notes on lines (bottom to top): E G B D F ("Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit").
• Spaces: F A C E.

MUSICAL ALPHABET:
• A B C D E F G, then repeats.

SCALES:
• A series of notes in order.
• C major scale: C D E F G A B C — all white notes on a keyboard.
• Pattern of tones (T) and semitones (S): T T S T T T S.

| Treble stave | Notes (bottom → top) | Memory trick |
|---|---|---|
| Lines | E G B D F | Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit |
| Spaces | F A C E | Spells FACE |

Key ideas at a glance

• Lines and spaces alternate: Moving from a line to the next space is one step up the alphabet.
• The alphabet loops: After G comes A again, one octave higher.
• Find C first: Left of the two black keys on a keyboard.
• Major = TTSTTTS: Learn the pattern and you can build any major scale.

Worked example (Easy)

Name the note on the middle line of the treble stave.

1. Lines. E G B D F.
2. Middle. Third line.

Answer: B.

Worked example (Medium)

Build the G major scale using TTSTTTS.

1. Start. G
2. Tones and semitones. G–A (T), A–B (T), B–C (S), C–D (T), D–E (T), E–F# (T), F#–G (S).
3. Result. G A B C D E F# G

Answer: G A B C D E F# G — one sharp (F#).

Common mistakes

• Mixing up line and space notes They follow different patterns. Fix: Use EGBDF for lines and FACE for spaces.
• Forgetting the sharp in G major E to F is a semitone, but the pattern needs a tone there. Fix: Raise F to F# to keep the TTSTTTS pattern.

Why seven letters?

Western music uses seven note names because of the scales that developed in medieval Europe. Between them sit the black keys — sharps (#) and flats (♭) — making 12 different pitches in each octave.

Other cultures divide the octave differently. Many traditional melodies around the world, from Scottish folk songs to Chinese and Japanese music, use pentatonic (five-note) scales. Try playing only the black keys on a piano: that is a pentatonic scale, and almost any combination sounds pleasant.

Practice questions

1. The spaces of the treble stave spell:

   1. EGBDF
   2. FACE
   3. CAGE
   4. BEAD

   (1 marks)

2. What is the pattern of tones and semitones in a major scale?

   (2 marks)

3. Which note is in the bottom space of the treble stave?

   1. E
   2. F
   3. A
   4. C

   (1 marks)

4. What comes after G in the musical alphabet?

   1. H
   2. A
   3. C
   4. F

   (1 marks)

5. Name the notes of the C major scale and say why it has no sharps or flats.

   (2 marks)

Summary

• Lines EGBDF, spaces FACE.
• Musical alphabet A–G.
• Major scale pattern TTSTTTS.
• Find C on the keyboard to anchor yourself.