What is a staff?
Q: What is a staff?
A: A staff, or stave, is the name given to the five horizontal lines on which music can be written.
Q: Where are musical notes placed?
A: Musical notes can be placed either on a line (i.e. with a line going through the middle of the note head) or in a space. There are four inside spaces as well as the two outer spaces at the top or bottom.
Q: How does pitch affect where notes are placed on a staff?
A: The higher the pitch of the note, the higher it will be on the staff. Taking the white notes of a keyboard for example, each note (A, B, C, D etc.) is placed higher on the stave (line, space, line, space etc.).
Q: What is needed to show which notes they are?
A: A clef is needed to show which notes they are. There are different clefs to suit high, medium or low instruments.
Q: When did five-line staves become usual in Western music?
A: The five-line staff started to become usual in Western music in the 13th century.
Q: What happens when notes are too high or low for a standard 5-line staff?
A: When notes are too high or low to put on a standard 5-line staff extension lines called ledger lines are used instead.
Q: How do multiple staves indicate that more than one instrument should play at once?
A: If two or more staves need to be played at once they will be joined by a bracket called a brace on their left side. For example piano music is written on two staves - one for each hand - and joined by such an brace
