Lesson #2: Staffs, Clefs, and Lines, Oh My!!!

Reading sheet music is like reading a foreign language. There are rules and patterns that must be followed for the music to sound pleasing to the ear and so the musician can interpret the music correctly in order to perform it.

Before we get to the music, we must first know how to write it correctly, and know how to organize it.

To learn about how to correctly label a note, head to: http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-is-c4.html.

Notes are also labeled ascending  by letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, then repeating again and again (there is no “H” note)

After you refresh how to designate a particular note, let’s move onto the tools we use to write the music, the staff, ledger lines, and clefs.

A staff is the foundation for any type of music. It is composed of five horizontal lines( and four spaces)  running the width of the page, and in longer musical pieces, is repeated below with a margin of about ¼ to ½ inch in between, depending on the octave the music is in. Each line on the staff represents white key on the keyboard. It is possible to represent both white and black keys on a music staff, but for the purpose of this demonstration, we will stay in the key of C, or all white keys. Obviously not the entire keyboard can be expressed on one staff; this is where clefs are used.

There are four main types of clefs: treble, alto, tenor, and bass clef.  However in modern music, only two are commonly used: treble and bass.

This is treble clef, also known as the G-clef because it’s symbol is centered around the second line, the G line( red).  Middle C is not written in this clef without using ledger lines to extend the staff (see below)

This is the alto clef. This clef is not often used in modern music, but if you play viola, you will probably be reading in this clef most of the time. It is centered on the C4 line (red) and represents middle C (C4).

This is the tenor clef. This clef is rarely used in modern music. Occasionally trombone, bassoon, cello, or viola will read this clef.  It is centered around C4 (red)

This is the bass clef, also known as the F-clef because it’s symbol is centered on the F line(red). Middle C cannot be represented on this staff without the use of ledger lines (see below)

As you can see, each staff has different lines or spaces assigned to the same note. But why is this?

Originally, everything was always written on one large, theoretical staff, a grand staff, normally with 11 horizontal lines (like above) but also had the four clefs, marking the different voice parts (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) would read off of one grand staff with their four different parts. This was very confusing, and therefore the grand staff was split into two staffs, treble (upper) and bass(lower). Alto and tenor clef were for the most part set aside and all music was notated on the two staffs.  

Q: What if you have a note that doesn’t fit on the staff? A: Extend the staff!!!

When you have a note that doesn’t fit on the staff you are using, you add ledger lines to extend the staff above or below depending on the not you are writing. You continue with your lettering and note placement.  (middle C on the picture above is an example of a ledger line).

That concludes our lesson for today.