6 – The Staff and the clefs (Review)

The Staff

• The staff or staves (the plural would be staves) is the foundation from which notes are drawn and therefore musicians know how high or low a musical note is.
• The staff comprises five lines (see the left side of the picture below) and four spaces found in between these lines (see on the right side of the picture)
• The staff is where we read music from and the also where we write music.
• The lines are counted from the bottom to the top as well the spaces, so the bottom line is called the first line and the upper one, the fifth. The same happens with the spaces.

The notes are drawn with ovals either on the lines or the spaces of the Staff. They can go up or down. Here is a picture that shows the way they move through the staves:

Music notes on the staff – Motion of the notes –  CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Clefs

Treble Clef (or G clef)

• We use the treble clef to notate the notes comprised of the middle C to the highest note (going to the right of the keyboard)
• The treble clef is used to read notes on many instruments such as flute, oboe, violin and trumpet.
• Notice that this clef begins on the second line (counting from bottom to top)

The Bass (or F clef)

• We use the Bass clef to notate the notes comprised of the middle C the to the Lowest note. (going to the left of the keyboard)
• The Bass clef is used to read notes on many instruments such as Cello, Trombone, double bass and Bassoon.
• Notice that this clef begins on the fourth line (counting from bottom to top) and is marked by two dots.

Here there is an image that will help us to have a quick reference to find the notes on the Treble and Bass Clef:

Treble and bass clef – Click here to DOWNLOAD

If you would like to have more information about this topic, just click HERE.