There are two basic elements to reading and writing music: the name of the note and the length of time that note should last. Over time, these two elements were combined into one elegant system, called musical notation. A five-line “staff” developed, and the note's position and appearance on the staff told musicians how long to hold the note before playing the next one.

The first thing you need to do is understand where notes are written and where they are placed. Look at the music staff shown in FIGURE 4-1. The music staff is made up of five lines with four spaces.

The modern staff is split into two halves, each of which is called a clef. Each clef has a particular sign at the beginning to tell you which staff you are using. These clefs are called the treble clef and the bass clef. When piano players read music, they play the treble clef with their right hand and the bass clef with their left hand.

Notes that appear below or above the clefs appear on what are called ledger lines, or individual lines where each note is written. Ledger lines are lines that extend the range of notes when needed above or below the staff lines, as shown in FIGURE 4-2. Ledger lines can become difficult to read as the notes get higher. In this case, the symbol 8va… is used to show that certain notes should be played one octave higher than written.

Look at FIGURE 4-3. Notice that in between the treble clef and the bass clef is one note on a ledger line. That note is called middle C because it falls in the middle of the two clefs. On the guitar, it is usually played on the third fret of the fifth string.

Those of you who are quick off the mark may have figured out a little problem when it comes to playing certain notes on the guitar. You may have noticed that you can play the same note (as it appears on the treble clef) in different places on the guitar. E, on the top space, for example, can be played on the fifth fret of the second string or on the open first string. For the moment, you'll only need to worry about reading music in the first position — that is, around the first fret.