The Music Staff

Staff A horizontal set of lines on which music is written.

The Lines

The modern staff consists of5 linesand4 spaces. In centuries past the number of lines and space had varied.

Every line and every space corresponds to notes on the keyboard:

Clefs

Clefs aresymbols that provide a frame of reference for writing notes on the staff. In other words, the clef tells the musician exactly which tones are indicated by the notes occurring on each line and space of the staff.

There are two clefs that commonly appear in written music: thetreble clefand thebass clef. Let's take a look at the treble clef on the staff.

The Treble Clef

Thetreble clef is usually used in music intended for middle-and high-range instruments and voices.

This clef is also sometimes called theG clef becausethe curlicue of the clef sign circles the second line up from the bottom of the staff. This line marks the positionofthe G note, and so provides a frame of reference fornotesplaced on any of the other lines and spaces of the staff.

Here are some notes arranged on the staff in the treble clef. Notice that a note falls on every line and space of the staff. When notes are arranged in a sequence like this they are collectively called ascale.

The Bass Clef

The bass clef is used in music written for lower instruments and voices.

TheF-clefis the large musical symbol at the beginning of the pianos bottom staff, orbass staff. TheF-clefs curl and two dots highlight theFline.

Here are some notes arranged on the staff in the Bass clef.

Leger LinesLeger lines short, horizontal lines that are used to extend a staff higher or lower (up or down).

The C note on the first additional line below the staff is the same note as the middle C of a piano.

The Grand Staff

The Grand Staff (also known as the Grand Stave) is basically just 2stavesjoined together, the Treble clef and the Bass clef, with an invisible line in between them.

Note DurationsThere are different types of notes to determine the duration or how long a note is played.

Awhole noteis the longest note sounding out the entire duration of one measure.

Ahalf noteis half the duration of a whole note.

Aquarter noteis half the duration of a half note.

Aneighth noteis half the duration of a quarter note.

Asixteenth noteis half the duration of an eighth note.

Measures, bar lines and Time SignaturesBar line - divides the staff into measure.

MEASURE - measure is the space between two bars. It is the segment or slice of time that is to be counted as indicated by the time signature.

Time Signatures

A time signature is a pair of numbers at the beginning of a song that lets you know how a song is counted.The top numbershows the number of beats per measure.The bottom numbershows the type of note receiving one beat.

REST DURATIONRests represents periods of silence in a measure.

Rests have equivalent durations to other regular notes.

Whole rest, you rest for a measure.

Half rest, you rest for half a measure.

Quarter rest, you rest for one beat.

Eighth rest, you rest for half a beat.

Sixteenth rest, you rest for a quarter of a beat.

DOT, TIE and slurDOT can be added to both notes and rests to add one-half to its original value. In the case of a dotted quarter note, half the value of a quarter is an eighth -so a quarter note tied to an eighth note equals a dotted quarter note. This is shown in the first example below:

Dotted whole notes through dotted 8th notes:

Tie is a curved, horizontal line that connects twomusic notesof thesame pitch(as opposed tolegato, which connects two or moredifferentpitches). Tied notes are held for thelengthof both notes; only the first is struck.

SLUR means you should play a piece of musiclegatoor smoothly.

Steps and AccidentalStepsrefer to a specific interval between 2 notes. To explain the concept of steps well use a keyboard as shown below.

2 closest adjacent notes on a keyboard are calledhalf steps, and 2 examples are shown in red. For instance the C on the far left and the black key beside it are half a step apart.

Awhole stepon the other hand refers to notes which are 2 half steps apart, i.e. 2 keys apart on the keyboard, and examples of these are shown in blue.

A more commonly used terminology for intervals is in terms oftonesandsemitones. A semitone has the same interval as a half step, whereas a tone has the same interval as a whole step.

Accidentals

Accidentals are used to change the original pitch of a particular note. There are 4 different types of accidentals in this section, which include thedouble flat,flat,sharpanddouble sharp. Thenaturalis another type of accidental. (Make sure that you are familiar with steps before you read on as this will be essential for understanding the concept of accidentals.)

The Flat

Examples of flat notes

Theflatis used to shift the pitch of the note down by half a step. (For example look at the far left example in the above image.) The quarter note shown on the staff is a G. However as it has a flat shown next to the note this note would in fact be half a step down, i.e. the black key to the left of G. This note is called aG Flat, which can also be denoted as Gb. The natural note is shown in red, and the flat version of the note is shown in blue.

Note that a flat note does not always have to be on a black key. For example the last example shows an Fb (F Flat). As a flat note is half a step down (i.e. the nearest key to the left) this would be an E, which is in fact a white key. The Fb is not usually used however, as it can just be denoted as an E.

The Sharp

Examples of sharp notes

A sharp is the opposite of a flat, in the fact that it shifts the note half a step above usual. Therefore when playing a sharp note, you would play the nearest key to the right of the original note. This is clarified in the examples shown here.

Remember that the keys highlighted in red represent the natural note, whereas the blue shows the sharp note. When writing text, a sharp note can be denoted using a # next to the note. For example a G sharp can be written as G#.

Double Flats & Double Sharps

Examples of double accidentals

Double flatsanddouble sharpsare basically the same as flats and sharps. The only way they differ is how they shift the original pitch of the note by a whole step rather than a half step. Theyre represented on music using the symbols shown above. However it can also be represented using a bb (double flat) and an x (double sharp).

The examples shown should help clarify the concept of double flats and double sharps. Notice how the notes represented on the music represent pitches that are a whole step below/up (i.e. 2 keys apart) from G.

Enharmonic Spelling

Enharmonic spelling

You may have noticed that some pitches have more than one name. For example take a look at the above image. The key highlighted in blue can be referred to as G# or Ab, and both would be a legitimate name for the note. The way that notes can have more than one name is called enharmonic spellingand is a very common occurrence.Middle C