The Staff
- Sonia Rodriguez
- May 28, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 9, 2021
Have you ever wondered what a musical staff is? Is it the kind of staff that turns into a cool snake? Can we make magic happen with it? Well, you've come to the right spot! In this section I will go over what a musical staff is, what it looks like and what do we do with it.
The Staff
“The staff is the space in which we write our sentences, short stories or novels which in musical jargon translates to melodies, songs or large orchestral works." - Sonia Rodriguez
In order to understand how to read the staff there are four things we need to know before we can begin to decipher what is written on a staff or to begin writing music on the staff.
1) What does the staff look like?
2) What is a clef?
3) What are key signatures?
4) What are time signatures?
In this section you will receive brief, or rather summarized, versions of what key signatures and time signatures are as I will cover these more in depth in future lessons.
1) What does the staff look like?
The staff is made up of five lines and four spaces. Each line and space on the staff has a designated letter name which we will discuss later. As for what the staff looks like, there it is, it is made up of five lines and four spaces. Sorry, does not look like a cool stick that can transform into a snake or make magic. Or can it?!
2) What is a clef?
“A clef, much like languages, helps the reader understand which phonics will be used to help you read the music written on the staff". - Sonia Rodriguez
For the purposes of this lesson we will only be discussing two clefs, the treble ("G") clef and bass ("F") clef. Both of these clefs will serve as an indicator as to how you are to read the music written on the staff which is why I equate them to language and phonics. When you have the treble clef on the staff, the lines and spaces will have different letter names in comparison to the bass clef.
The musical alphabet is made up of seven letters: A B C D E F G.
There is a continuous repetition of pattern that you will see written on the lines and spaces of both treble and bass clef that consist of these seven letters.
Side Note: The treble clef is also known as the "G" clef because the swirl right at the center ends on the "G" note on the staff when a treble clef is used. The bass clef is also known as the "F" clef because there is a line on the staff that runs in-between those two dots on the right hand side of the bass clef, that line is the "F" note when the bass clef is used on the staff.
In this context I am using notes to refer to the pitch of sound.
The lines on the treble clef, starting from bottom to top, are E G B D F and can be remembered by using the phrase Every Good Boy Does Fine. The spaces can be easily remembered because they spell out the word FACE.
The lines on the bass clef, starting from bottom to top, are G B D F A and can be remembered by using the phrase Good Boys Do Fine Always. The spaces are A C E G and can be remembered by using the phrase All Cows Eat Grass.
Ledges lines can be added above and below the staff in order to write down notes whose pitch range extends those provided by the standard staff template.
When there are two staves and they are joined by a brace, this creates the grand staff that is typical for music written for piano.
3) What are key signatures?
"Key signatures are a collection of accidentals that we find in scales used to determine what key our piece of music is written in". - Sonia Rodriguez
For this lesson this is all you really need to know about the key signature. I will cover key signatures more in depth in the next lesson.
4) What are time signatures?
"Time signatures let us know the rhythm we are to play the music written in". - Sonia Rodriguez
For this lesson, just like the key signatures, this is all you need to know as I will be covering time signatures more in depth in another lesson.
When all these elements come together this is what the start of your staff should like.
Here is a fun site where you can practice your new skills of naming notes on the grand staff! Have fun and until next time.
To watch the accompaniment video to this lesson, "Episode 1: The Staff", click the link below:
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