Lesson One
Lesson One
Lesson One
Understanding the
Musical Staff
LESSON ONE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, learners should be able to:
Altogether, we can say that there are five lines and four spaces in a musical staff.
5
4 4
3 3
2
2
1 1
we can also count the lines and spaces of the staff like this
Line 5
Space 4
Line 4
Line 3 Space 3
Space 2
Line 2
Space 1
Line 1
Clef Signs
Clef signs are signs or musical symbols used to indicate which notes are represented by the
lines and spaces on a musical staff. the word clef is a French word that is derived from the
Latin word “Clavis” which means key. we can therefore say that the clef sign is the key to
understanding which notes are to be played or sung while reading the staff.
Types of Clefs
We shall discuss two major types of clefs in this book. they are:
1. Treble clef
2. Bass clef
Treble Clef
The treble clef, also known as G clef is a type of clef sign that is shaped like an ornamental
letter G. It is the most commonly used clef in Western music.
The treble clef primarily notates musical notes above middle
C.
Bass Clef
The bass clef, also known as the F clef is a type of clef that is shaped like an ornamental
letter F, accompanied by two dots. it is the second most
commonly used type of clef in Western music. The bass clef
primarily notates musical notes below middle C. It looks like
this.
The bass clef is a common clef for double bass, bass guitar, trombone, etc. In piano notation,
the bass clef typically contains music to be played on the left hand. when we place the bass
clef on the staff, the staff becomes a bass staff.
Keep in mind that the lines are counted in an upward direction from the bottom.
E – Every
G – Good
B – Boy
D – Deserves
F - Favour
F – Farting F – Frequent
A – Always A – Asking
C – Causes C – Can
E – Enemies E – Enlighten
G – Good
B – Boy
D – Deserves
F – Favour
A - Always
Other acronyms to remember the lines of the bass staff include:
G – Good G – Great G – Goofy
B – Bubbles B – Big B – Babies
D – Do D – Dinosaurs D – Do
F – Fizz F – Fight F – Funny
A - Always A – Always A – Acts
A – All A–A
C – Cars C – Cats
E – Eat E – Eyes
G – Gas G – Glow
SUMMARY
In this chapter, we have learnt the following things:
1. The musical alphabets are just seven letters and they are: A, B, C, D,
E, F, and G. These alphabets are used to name the musical notes.
2. The musical staff is a set of horizontal five lines and spaces that are
used to clearly communicate musical notation.
3. Clef signs are signs or musical symbols used to indicate which notes
are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff.
4. Treble and bass clef are the two major clef signs we have in music.
EXERCISES
Answer the following questions from this chapter: