Printable Charts on Music Theory Print

Bass Clef Notes Chart — Printable

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What the bass clef is#

The bass clef is the F clef. Its two dots sit either side of the fourth line from the bottom, and that line is the F below middle C (F3). Everything else on the staff is counted from there.

It is the clef for low pitches: the left hand of piano music, and parts for cello, double bass, bassoon, trombone, euphonium and tuba.

How it joins up with the treble clef#

Middle C (C4) is the first ledger line above the bass staff and the first ledger line below the treble staff. That shared note is how the two staves of a piano score connect into one continuous range.

Treble Clef Notes Chart — Printable

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What the treble clef is#

The treble clef is the G clef. The curl of the symbol wraps around the second line from the bottom, which marks that line as the G above middle C (G4). Everything else on the staff is counted from there.

It is the clef for higher pitches: the right hand of piano music, and parts for violin, flute, oboe, clarinet and trumpet. Guitar music is also written in treble clef, but sounds an octave lower than written.

Key Signature Chart — All 15 Keys, Printable

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

How to read a key signature#

A key signature is the set of sharps or flats written at the start of every line of music, right after the clef. It tells you which notes are raised or lowered throughout the piece, so you do not need to mark each one.

Order of sharps: F, C, G, D, A, E, B. Order of flats: B, E, A, D, G, C, F, which is the sharps in reverse.

Circle of Fifths Chart — Printable

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

How the circle works#

The twelve major keys are arranged in a circle, each a perfect fifth above the one before it. Starting from C at the top and moving clockwise, every step adds one sharp: G has one, D has two, A has three, and so on. Moving counter-clockwise from C adds one flat each step: F has one, B♭ has two.

The ring just inside the majors shows each key’s relative minor, which shares its key signature. The innermost ring is the number of sharps or flats.

Music Interval Chart — Names, Semitones, Staff

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Reading the chart#

An interval is the distance between two notes. Its number (2nd, 3rd, 4th…) counts letter names including both ends: C up to E is a 3rd because it spans C, D, E. Its quality (perfect, major, minor, augmented, diminished) says how many semitones that number spans.

1st, 4th, 5th and 8th are perfect when they are the plain size. They are never major or minor.
2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th are major or minor: the minor version is one semitone smaller.
Make a perfect or minor interval one semitone smaller and it becomes diminished; make a perfect or major interval one semitone larger and it becomes augmented.

Same sound, different name#

The tritone is six semitones. Written as C up to F♯ it is an augmented 4th; written as C up to G♭ it is a diminished 5th. The sound is identical on a piano; the spelling depends on the key.

Free Printable Staff Paper — Treble, Bass, Grand Staff

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Which style to pick#

Treble clef: melodies, and anything for violin, flute, clarinet, trumpet or voice in a higher range.
Bass clef: low parts, cello, bassoon, trombone, or the left hand of a piano piece.
Grand staff: a treble staff joined to a bass staff by a brace, the layout for piano and harp. Five systems fit on a page.
No clef: ten empty staves, for writing in whichever clef you want.

A staff is five lines and four spaces. Notes outside it sit on short extra lines called ledger lines, so leave a little room above and below each staff when you write.

Printable Weekly Practice Log for Music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Using the log#

Write what you actually worked on, not just how long you sat there: “C major scale, hands together”, “bars 9–16, slowly”, “clapping the rhythm of line 3”. A line like that is useful to your teacher and to you next week.

Fill in the goal for next week before you start the new sheet, and look back at it at the end.
The last box is for what went well and what to fix. One sentence is enough.
Print a stack at the start of a term and keep them in the front of your music folder.

Printable Music Note Flashcards — Treble & Bass Clef

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Making the cards#

Pick a set and print it.
Cut around each dashed rectangle.
Fold each card along the dashed line across the middle, with the printing on the outside. The note is on the front; the name is on the back, the right way up.
Go through the stack, say the name, then flip to check. Put the ones you got wrong back in the pile.

Start with the treble set if you read treble clef, or the bass set for bass clef. Once you are quick at both, shuffle them together.

Trumpet Valve Chart — Fingering for Every Note

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

How the valves work#

Without any valve pressed, a trumpet can only play the notes of its harmonic series: for a B♭ trumpet, written C, G, C, E, G and the C above. Each valve adds a length of tubing that lowers the pitch, and combinations lower it further:

Valve	Lowers the pitch by
2nd	one semitone (half step)
1st	two semitones (a whole step)
3rd	three semitones (a step and a half)

So every note between two open notes is reached by pressing the valves that add up to the right number of semitones. For example, D4 sits five semitones below G4: valve 1 (two) plus valve 3 (three), written 1-3.

Italian Musical Terms — Dynamics, Tempo & Expression

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Italian became the language of musical directions in the 1600s and 1700s, when Italian composers and publishers set the conventions that most Western sheet music still follows. A composer writes the word and the performer decides how to carry it out, so these are guides, not exact instructions.

Tempo words describe a character as much as a speed: allegro means “cheerful” as well as “fast”, and andante means “walking”.