The bass staff

The other clef, the one with two dots, is the bass clef. It marks the lower half of the piano: the left hand.

The lines are the same five lines, but they mean different notes. The bottom line is G, and the top line is A. The same dot in the same place is a different key depending on which clef stands in front of it.

Do not translate from the treble staff. Learn the bass positions as their own picture, or you will always be a step behind.

The two staves overlap at middle C: the short line just below the treble staff and just above the bass staff — one key, written two ways. From the bottom the bass lines are G, B, D, F, A, and the spaces A, C, E, G.

G B D F A on the lines · A C E G in the spaces

G on the bottom line, then B, D and F.

Practise this in the trainer — it opens with this lesson the first time the concept comes up.