How do you read sheet music?

If you are looking at a staff (the five parallel lines), each note on a line or a space represents a specific pitch. There are 7 basic notes/pitches: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. A clef symbol on the left-most side of a staff will tell you what each line represents, in terms of these letters. You will most likely see the treble clef (also called a G-clef, which looks like a fancy G). In this clef, the lines from bottom to top represent E, G, B, D, and F. The spaces from bottom to top represent F, A ,C, and E. As you go up a staff, the pitch raises, and as you go down a staff, the pitch lowers. Notes are not limited to the confinements of the lines on the staff, but may extend beyond.