What is a musical staff?
The staff (UK: stave; plural staves) is the set of lines on which notes and other symbols are written in Western music notation. It has five horizontal lines and four spaces between them. Lines and spaces are always counted from the bottom up. To place notes correctly you also need to know the clefs.
- The 1st line is the lowest and the 5th line is the highest.
- The 1st space is between the 1st and 2nd lines.
A short history: from one line to five
The staff did not always have five lines. In the Middle Ages, scribes used a single colored line (red or yellow) to guide the singer. Later, Guido d'Arezzo (11th century) promoted the four-line staff, which is still used today for Gregorian chant. The five-line staff became standard in the following centuries, because it lets a melody cover a wider range without so many ledger lines.
Structure and ledger lines
When a note is too high or too low to fit on the five lines, ledger lines are used. These are short strokes drawn above or below the staff that extend it for a moment.
| Element | Number | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Lines | 5 | Define the main pitch positions of the notes. |
| Spaces | 4 | Hold the notes between two neighboring lines. |
| Ledger lines | Variable | For extreme notes (very high or very low). |
Main types of staff
Depending on the instrument or ensemble, the staff can appear in several forms:
- Single staff: one staff on its own (for example, for flute, violin or guitar).
- Grand staff (system): two staves joined by a brace. It is the standard format for piano and harp. The upper staff usually has a treble clef and the lower one a bass clef.
- Percussion staff: it sometimes has fewer than five lines when the instruments have no definite pitch (such as a triangle or a snare drum), and it uses a percussion clef instead of a treble or bass clef. Each of these instruments, with its photo, is in the guide to unpitched percussion.
- Tablature (TAB): it is not a true staff, but it looks like one. For guitar it has 6 lines that stand for the strings and their notes, not for musical pitches.
Note: the staff works like a coordinate system. The vertical axis shows pitch (higher on the staff means higher in sound) and the horizontal axis shows time (from left to right).
Notes on the staff with a treble clef
Once the treble clef is placed on the 2nd line, every position on the staff is assigned to a specific note. Notes alternate between lines and spaces from the bottom up:
| Position | Note (treble clef) |
|---|---|
| 5th line | F |
| 4th space | E |
| 4th line | D |
| 3rd space | C |
| 3rd line | B |
| 2nd space | A |
| 2nd line | G |
| 1st space | F |
| 1st line | E |
| 1st ledger line below | C (middle C) |
A memory aid: the lines (from the bottom up) are E–G–B–D–F ("Every Good Boy Does Fine"), and the spaces spell F–A–C–E. The 1st ledger line below the staff is middle C, the reference point between the treble clef and the bass clef. In scientific pitch notation (see the octave numbering page) middle C is C4. Some French and Belgian sources number it C3.
Notes are named here with letters. In Spanish-, French- and Italian-speaking countries the same notes are called Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si (C D E F G A B); see note names.
For the bass clef and the five C clefs, see the page on clefs.
What are blank staves used for?
Blank staff paper is a basic tool for studying music theory and sight-singing. Common uses:
- Writing scales and chords: writing notes on paper helps you memorize their positions.
- Melodic dictation: the teacher plays or sings a melody and the student writes it on the staff.
- Composing: sketching musical ideas by hand before moving to the computer.
- Interval exercises: writing and measuring distances between notes on printed paper.
Below you will find free printable staff paper: blank manuscript paper in PDF, A4 size, in portrait and landscape. You can choose blank staves (no clef) or staves with a treble, bass or C clef, and even two-staff systems. Click a template to open or download it.
Blank staff paper to print (no clef)
Staff paper with clef to print
Two-staff systems to print
