Teaching Preschoolers Line Notes of the Treble Clef

Once preschoolers have learned the difference between line notes and space notes, it is time to move on to teaching them the name of the line notes in the treble clef.

For this activity you will need:

• 5 sets of  2" laminated circles with either an "E, G, B, D, or F" printed on them
• your large treble clef that you made for the lines and spaces activities

What to do:

Starting from the bottom line of the staff, place an "E" on the bottom line, "G" on the 2nd line, "B" on the 3rd line, "D" on the 4th line and an "F" on the 5th line.  As you do this, sing the following song, set to the tune of 'Bingo'
     The treble clef it has five lines and here are their names
     E, G, B, D, F
    E, G, B, D, F    
   E, G, B, D, F
   And those are their names
   (c. 2010 Rohde)

After singing the song through once or twice, give each child a circle with a note name written on it; Do not remove the notes you have placed on the staff!  Call the students up by groups, saying, "If you have an E, come place it on the staff".  Do the same thing for each of the five line notes. When this activity has been mastered, remove the "cheater notes" from the staff and have the children place their note on the correct line of the staff.

This is not a "one time and it's done" activity.  I do this activity every 6-8 weeks with my students, and sometimes more often.  The preschoolers will catch on quickly to this activity, but it must be done with some regularity in order to have it a part of their long-term memory.  And remember, for now you are only learning the names of the line notes.  After you have done this activity several times, you can move on the the names of the space notes in the treble clef - but for now, enjoy teaching your preschoolers how to read the name of the line notes in the treble clef!