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