GRADE 1
STAFF NOTATION
Music is written down in many different ways around the world. Here in the UK, most instruments use a method of notation called "staff notation".
The music staff, or stave, is made up of 5 horizontal lines:
On the music staff or stave, notes are placed on the lines:
and also in the spaces between the lines
We will learn about the notes later in this series...
THE TREBLE CLEF
The Treble Clef
We always put a clef at the beginning of the music staff.
A clef is a symbol which identifies notes by name. We can work out all the other notes from this one.
The most common clef is the treble clef, which looks like the one to the left:
The treble clef tells us where on the music staff we should write the note G. We draw the treble clef so that the curly bit in the middle forms a sort of circle around one line on the staff - any note written on this line is a G.
It is sometimes called the G clef because of this.
We now know where the note G is, so we can work out all the other notes on the staff from this.
NOTE NAMES
In the theory of music we use the letter names A to G to identify notes on the stave.
Starting at A we go to B then C and so on to G and after G the next note is A as we start the sequence again.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, etc.
G is on a line on the music staff, so the next note up, A, is in a space: The notes then carry on line, space, line, space etc.
Notes on the stave
Here are all the lines and spaces of the music in the treble clef staff.
You can try to remember the letter names of the notes on lines by learning one of the following lines:
Notes on the Lines
Every Good Boy Deserves Football
or
Every Green Bus Drives Fast
Notes in the Spaces
F A C E
