Hey 1968, you'll get reading notation down. Besides thinking of the notes within the staff bars as "Every.Good.Boy.Does.Fine. - F.A.C.E." Just look at the notes on the sheet music and know there are just 7 letters in music and they are always written in alphabetical order. So the notes on the staff lines are E.F.G.A.B.C.D.E.F. (read in order on the staff from down to up)

&______________| F

                             E

&______________| D

                             C

&______________| B

                             A

&______________| G

                             F

&______________| E

So when you go above or below the the staff lines keep all the notes in alphabetical order. Example. the highest note on the staff is an F so the first space above the highest staff line is a G, next up with a little staff line A and so on. Same as below the staff lines. E is the lowest staff line so the space below that would be a D then C then B, A, G, F. (my insomnia kicked in tonight - Time to play my e-fiddle at 2:15am).