Staff (music) facts for kids

A staff (or stave) is a set of five straight lines where we write musical notes. Notes can sit right on a line or in the spaces between the lines. There are four spaces inside the staff. There are also two spaces just outside the top and bottom lines.

The higher a note is placed on the staff, the higher its pitch (how high or low it sounds). For example, if you look at the white keys on a piano, each note (like A, B, C, D) goes higher up the staff. It moves from a line to a space, then to the next line, and so on.

To know exactly which notes are written, a special symbol called a clef is placed at the beginning of the staff. Different clefs are used for instruments that play high, medium, or low sounds.

This music shows the start of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.

This picture shows the beginning of a famous piece of music, Symphony No. 5 by Beethoven. The first three notes are on the second line from the bottom. These are G notes because a treble clef is at the start of the staff. The fourth note is a bit lower, on the bottom line. This is an E-flat note, because of the key signature (the flat symbols) at the start. The next note is an F, sounding between the G and E-flat. After three F notes, a D note appears in the space just below the bottom line.

How Do Notes Fit on the Staff?

Musical notes are placed on the five lines and four spaces of the staff. Each line and space represents a different musical pitch. The lowest notes are at the bottom of the staff, and the highest notes are at the top. This helps musicians quickly see how high or low a note should sound.

What Are Ledger Lines?

Sometimes, notes are too high or too low to fit on the main five lines of the staff. When this happens, short extra lines are added above or below the staff. These short lines are called ledger lines. They help extend the range of notes that can be written down.

Why Are Braces Used?

When several musical staves are played at the same time, they are often connected. A curved line called a brace joins them on the left side. For example, Piano music usually uses two staves joined by a brace. One staff is for the notes played by the right hand, and the other is for the left hand. This makes it easier for the musician to read both parts at once.

How Are Rhythms Written?

Some instruments, like cymbals, mainly play a rhythm and don't have a specific pitch. These instruments don't need a full five-line staff. Their music can be written on just one line. The beats are often shown as simple crosses or other symbols on that single line.

When Did the Staff Become Common?

While some composers used staves with different numbers of lines, the five-line staff became the standard in Western music around the 13th century. This system made it much easier for musicians to read and play music consistently.

Images for kids

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  Musical brace.

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  Musical bracket.

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  A simple grand staff. Each of the staves shown above has seven notes and one rest.

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  12th-century Beneventan manuscript showing diastematic neumes and a single-line staff

See also

In Spanish: Pentagrama para niños