Hi everyone,
After a false start, I have started again to learn the piano. I had "memorized" most of the Alfred's book for adults, so have some new beginers books. I am having trouble learning the bass clef. Is there an easy way of getting this? Is it OK to write the note letters next to the notes to read them quickly and will that make them "stick" in my head better. Or is that a no no
Beverley,

I wouldn't write note names except for maybe the odd one.

Learn the names of the 'space' notes then you can quickly work out what the in betwen line notes are.
Test yourself with flash cards. Start by reading the note names on the bass clef before you start to play.
These things will help you to get quicker at note naming but with piano (maybe more than most other instruments?) you don't have to think of every note name as you play. Once you have the starting note follow the pattern of the music and read by interval (noticing how far away a note is from the one you just played).

I don't see why writing bass notes in is a bad thing - once you get your head and hands around it, you'll find that you don't need to write them in any more.

I think for the beginning, it's a good idea not to write the notes in, since it might make you too dependent on that. I think what is helpful for bass clef is to remember that the line that runs through the two dots is F and work from there. Also, teachers usually have some mnemonic devices to help with bass clef and the note names. I believe it is...

Lines (from the bottom line to the top) - Good Boys Do Fine Always (GBDFA)

Spaces (from the bottom up) - All Cows Eat Grass (ACEG)

With time, you'll get used to the note names on the bass clef, and it'll practically become second nature. Just play more music, read more music.

Happy practising! ^^

I agree. Writing all of the letter names down next to the notes will only slow down your progress. When will you ever stop wanting to write the letters down? It's much better to do it correctly right from the start. The odd one or two might be useful, but loads wouldn't help you in the long term.

Playing the piano can be so enjoyable!

Keep in mind that if you hop down alternate notes from middle C you're hopping down the lines of the bass stave, so top line is one skip down, second line down is two skips down etc. No note names needed!

I think the flash cards idea is a good one.

My 8yr old daughter started piano 2yrs ago and I ended up sort of joining her (on the basis that I sat around during her lessons so knew almost as much as her). We're both doing G4 in 2wks (she having got distinctions in the previous 3 and me merits only!). Anyway, I put post-it notes around the house with various bass clef notes on, when we were first tackling that (she was a violinist so we didn't need to bother with treble clef). It really worked. So much so that when we both did G5 AB music theory last wk (I'm a glutton for punishment!), I also dotted about the house: instrument descriptions to name, italian terms, dynamics, voice descriptions, ornaments and the like so we were constantly checking whether we knew it all. Worked a treat.

There is a great book that I use with all pianists who have started on a treble clef instrument - it's called (predictably?) The Bass Clef Book, and it's by Maisie Aldridge. Still in print, I think, and published by Stainer and Bell. It starts off very simply, and then progresses via folk songs to quite advanced material. Soon your Bass Clef reading will be better than your Treble

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I will not write the names of the notes after all then. Will keep plugging away.
Beverley.

I would agree - definitely don't write the letter names in - I've had transfer pupils from other teachers who arrived doing that, and they never actually read the notes - they get too dependent on reading the letter names and therefore have no idea which octave of the piano they're even meant to be - eg middle C and the C above both get C written underneath them, and if the pupil doesn't actually look at the note itself they might play the wrong one without realising......

I now teach my pupils the "musical code" which is simply 2 sets of letters GBDF and ACE (made from extracting every other letter from the alphabet.) If you start on the bottom line of the bottom stave and hop up every line from the bottom of the bass clef stave right up to the top line of the treble stave (include middle C) you get GBDF ACE GBDF. They find it far easier than trying to remember mnemonics for each clef. It's still early days, but so far the results are encouraging.......

Give it time you will soon learn the names of th notes and you will be abe to read severel ledger lines befroe you know it. Also I do agree writing the note names next to the notes is a bad idea because you will then become dependent on them and never learn them.

Another good tip would be to start theory as soon as possible then you wouldn't have to start when you reach grade 5. And you never know you could like it.

Hope this helps

Music Man

I didn't learn the notes of the bass clef (at first) - I just noticed one day that on a keyboard instrument the bass clef is completely symetrical with a mirror image of black notes on each side of that middle D. And outside that grouping of "three black notes - two black notes - three black notes" are the notes which hang below and sit on top of the lines of the bass stave. Once I saw it like that it was easy - and without having to name the note each time.