Lesson One

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LESSON ONE

Understanding the
Musical Staff
LESSON ONE

UNDERSTANDING THE MUSICAL STAFF


The perfect starting point for anyone eager to learn music notation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, learners should be able to:

1. List the musical alphabet


2. Draw the musical staff
3. List the clef signs
4. Name the lines and spaces of the staff

The Musical Alphabets


If you want to learn how to read and write music, the first thing you need to know is the
musical alphabet. Every language has its alphabet like English, Spanish, French, etc. In
music, we have musical alphabets. Luckily for us, 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. The musical alphabets are “always” written in capital letters

The Musical Staff


The musical staff is a set of five horizontal lines. These lines have spaces between them. The
staff is used to clearly communicate musical notation. These lines and spaces are equal and
run horizontally across a page of music. Another name for staff is stave. The staff looks like
this:

The Musical Staff

Numbering the Lines and Spaces


In music, the lines and spaces are numbered from down to upwards.

The first line is called Line 1


The second line is called Line 2
The third line is called Line 3
The fourth line is called Line 4
The fifth line is called Line 5

Similarly, the spaces are numbered the same way.

The first space is called Line 1


The second space is called Line 2
The third space is called Line 3
The fourth space is called Line 4

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.

Many instruments including the trumpet, violin, flute, oboe,


etc. make use of the treble clef. the treble clef is also used on
the piano grand staff to notate music played by the right
hand. when we place the treble clef on the staff, the staff becomes a treble staff.

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.

The Treble Staff


As mentioned earlier, when we place a treble clef on the staff, the staff becomes a treble
staff. the lines and spaces of the treble staff have their names.

The first line of the treble staff is called line E


The second line of the treble staff is called line G
The third line of the treble staff is called line B
The fourth line of the treble staff is called line D
The fifth line of the treble staff is called line F

Keep in mind that the lines are counted in an upward direction from the bottom.

The first space of the treble staff is called line F


The second space of the treble staff is called line A
The third space of the treble staff is called line C
The fourth space of the treble staff is called line E

Acronyms to Remember the Lines and Spaces of the Treble


Staff
Instead of memorizing long strings of letters of the lines and spaces of the treble staff, there
are several acronyms we could easily remember them. for example, a simple acronym to
remember the names of the lines of the treble staff is

E – Every
G – Good
B – Boy
D – Deserves
F - Favour

Other acronyms to remember the lines of the treble staff include:

E – Empty E – Elephant E – Every


G – Garbage G – Go G – Good
B – Before B – Backwards B-Boy
D – Dad D – Down D – Deserves
F - Flips F – Freeways F – Fudge
To remember the spaces of the treble staff, just spell – FACE, or say:

F – Farting F – Frequent
A – Always A – Asking
C – Causes C – Can
E – Enemies E – Enlighten

The Bass Staff


When we place a bass clef on the staff, the staff becomes a bass staff. the lines and spaces of
the bass staff have their names too.

The first line of the bass staff is called line G


The second line of the bass staff is called line B
The third line of the bass staff is called line D
The fourth line of the bass staff is called line F
The fifth line of the treble staff is called line A

Remember that the lines are counted from down to upwards.

The first space of the bass staff is called line A


The second space of the bass staff is called line C
The third space of the bass staff is called line E
The fourth space of the bass staff is called line G

Acronyms to Remember the Lines and Spaces of the Bass Staff


A simple acronym to remember the names of the lines of the bass staff is

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

To remember the spaces of the bass staff, say:


A – All
C – Cows
E – Eat
G – Grass
Other acronyms to remember the spaces of the bass staff include:

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:

1. List the musical alphabet


2. What is a musical staff?
3. How many lines and spaces are there in a musical staff?
4. List the two types of clef signs we have
5. What is the acronym for the lines of the treble staff?
6. What is the acronym for the spaces of the bass staff?

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