How it works

Press start, and a note appears on the bass staff, gliding toward the gold line. Name it before it gets there:

Tap or click one of the letter buttons, A to G.
Or type the letter on your keyboard. Press the space bar to pause.

Get it right, and the next note follows. Get it wrong, or let it reach the line, and Trebly shows you the right name and moves on. Nothing ends the session: there’s no score, no streak to lose and no limit on mistakes.

This is Trebly’s Training, set to the bass clef. Every note on this page is a bass clef note.

Which notes you’ll practice

There are two levels. Switch between them with Range, next to the staff.

Level 1 is the seven notes from the C in the second space up to the B just above the staff. There are no ledger lines, so it’s the place to start.

Level 1: C in the second space up to B above the staff.

Level 2 adds the bottom of the staff and a note at each end: F below the bottom line, G, A and B on the bottom two lines and the space between them, and middle C on its ledger line above the staff.

Level 2 adds the notes in orange, from F below the staff to middle C.

Not sure where these notes sit yet? See bass clef notes, or learn the lines and spaces first.

Settings

Speed. Ten speeds, from about nine seconds per note at Speed 1 to two at Speed 10. Use the + and − buttons next to the speed.
Note names. Shows the letter names of the bass staff’s lines and spaces beside it. Handy at first; turn it off as soon as you can.
Play on a pulse. Notes arrive on a steady beat instead of one at a time, so you practice reading bass notes in time.
Hints. A reminder under the staff: lines G, B, D, F, A and spaces A, C, E, G. You can turn hints off in Settings.

Your bass progress

Trebly keeps a separate record of your bass notes. A C on the bass staff sits where an E does on the treble staff, so knowing one tells Trebly nothing about the other. Notes you miss or answer slowly come back sooner; notes you know well turn up less often, so your practice goes where you need it.

A row of seven letters under the staff fills with dots as you get each note right. When all seven have five dots, Trebly offers to speed up, add the Level 2 notes, or go again. Your bass notes also get their own cards on the Progress screen.

Tips for reading bass clef notes

Anchor on F. The bass clef’s two dots sit either side of the F line. Find it without counting, then step to nearby notes.
Use middle C. It sits on its own ledger line just above the staff, the same note as the C below the treble staff.
Think “line or space?” first, then use Good Boys Do Fine Always for the lines, or All Cows Eat Grass for the spaces.
Coming from treble? A bass note is two letters later than the treble note in the same place. Use the shortcut while you learn, then let it go.
Accuracy first. A slow right answer is worth more than a fast guess. Speed comes from knowing the notes.

When you’re ready for more

In Training, set Clef to Both, and each note arrives in either the treble or the bass clef, as it does in piano music. Your treble and bass records keep counting separately.