Counting from middle C

Eight notes apart

The letters go round and round. Count eight notes up from G and you reach G again. Two notes with the same letter, eight apart, are an octave apart. The top one sounds like the same note, only higher.

Which G?

A stave has more than one G. To say which one, count up from middle C. The first G above middle C is on the second line. The second G above middle C is an octave above the first G.

Going down

Going down works the same way. The first G below middle C is in the top space of the bass stave.

Remember

• Same letter, eight notes apart: an octave.
• Say which note by counting from middle C: the first, then the second.