Notes On The Treble Clef Spaces, Learn to memorize and read the notes in the Treble Clef spaces Options

[The Professor]

“Space” Notes on the Treble Clef

After learning what the Treble Clef is in a previous lesson, we can now move on to learning and memorizing the names of the notes that fall on the lines and spaces of that clef, starting with the notes on each space of the Treble Clef.

There are 4 notes that occur on the “spaces” of the Treble Clef, the blank spaces that occur between the lines of the clef.

These notes are F A C E, and to help you memorize them, the easiest way to think about it is just the word these notes spell out, Face.

Here are those notes written out on the Treble Clef, with the names of each note written out below the staff.





You can also think of these notes as an Fmaj7 chord, F A C E is the 1-3-5-7 in the key of F Major. (To learn more about the chords of the major scale click here)

This is also helpful in understanding the interval relationships between the spaces on the Treble Clef, as each space is exactly a 3rd apart from the previous space, though they are not always the same 3rd apart.


F-A is a major 3rd interval.

A-C is a minor 3rd interval.

C to E is a major 3rd interval.


So, there you have a brief summary of the notes on the spaces of the Treble Clef. The key is to memorize the word FACE, so that you always know which note is where when reading music in this clef.

Test Your Theory Knowledge!

Here are some questions about the notes on the Treble Clef that you can answer below, without looking above at the answers, and I'll be happy to check your work and see how you're doing.

1. What note is on the 1st space of the Treble Clef?
2. What note is on the 2nd space of the Treble Clef?
3. What note is on the 3rd space of the Treble Clef?
4. What note is on the 4th space of the Treble Clef?

Do you have any questions about this topic? Post a comment or question in the thread below.

This post has been edited by The Professor: Mar 18 2013, 11:43 AM

[PosterBoy]

My biggest revelation was how when you get beyond the stave the 'space notes and 'line notes' swap over

I'm still crap at reading though!

[The Professor]

My biggest revelation was how when you get beyond the stave the 'space notes and 'line notes' swap over

I'm still crap at reading though!

For sure, that's a great little trick to getting the notes down. And it's one thing to understand it and another to read it on the guitar, that's the pain of our existence!