* The staff is the foundation upon which notes are drawn.


* The modern staff comprises five lines and four spaces.


* Every line or space on the staff represents a white key on the keyboard.


* Clefs assign individual notes to certain lines or spaces.
* Two clefs are normally used: The Treble and Bass clefs.


* First, we will discuss the Treble Clef (also called the G Clef).


* The staff line which the clef wraps around (shown in red) is known as G. Any note placed on this line becomes G.


* The note on the space above G is A. (Remember, there is not an “H” note).


* The note on the line above A is B.


* This process continues.


* Uh-oh. We just ran out of room to place notes, what happens now?


* Ledger Lines will solve our dilemma.
* A ledger line is a small line that extends the staff when we run out of room.
* With the ledger line drawn, we can place the A.


* Next, let’s discuss the Bass Clef (also called the F Clef).


* The staff line in between the two dots of the clef is F.


* We can now fill the rest of the staff with notes.


* Finally, we will discuss the Grand Staff, a theoretical staff consisting of eleven lines.


* Watch what happens when we eliminate the middle line – we end up with two regular staffs.


* By adding a Treble Clef to the top staff and a Bass Clef to the bottom staff, we can see the relationship between the two staffs.


* Notice how the two clefs are “joined” by the C (shown in red).
* This C is commonly called “middle C” since it corresponds to the middle staff line on the Grand Staff.




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