The staff (or stave) is a set of five, equidistant, horizontal lines joined together by barlines. The staff is used to clearly communicate musical notation. Note symbols, dynamics, and other performance directions are placed within, above, and below the staff. More than one staff (or staves) can be grouped with a bracket or a brace to create a system. The bracket typically groups independent parts to form a system. In the example below, the voice parts (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) are connected with the bracket to create the visual grouping of the voice parts. They are independent because each of the voices only needs their part to perform the music. The brace typically groups dependent parts to form a system. In the example below, the piano parts are connected with a brace or curved bracket, to create the visual grouping of the piano parts. The parts are dependent because both treble clef and bass clef staves are necessary to perform the music on the piano.
The staff has several components that are commonly found in every composition.When discussing the staff, numbers are used to identify the lines and spaces. The numbers start from the bottom for both lines and spaces. When referring to lines and spaces above or below the staff, count from the first space above (or below) the staff or the first line above (or below) the staff.
The components of the staff are listed below and shown in the example below.
1 |
Staff (or stave) | The staff (or stave) provides a framework to indicate all aspects of music (i.e. pitch, duration, dynamics, etc.) |
2 |
Bracket | The bracket provides a visual connection between independent parts into a system. |
3 |
Brace | The brace provides a visual connection between dependent parts (i.e. two piano staves) into a system. |
4 |
Clef | The clef indicates the specific pitches represented by the vertical position of notes on the staff. |
5 |
Key signature | The key signature indicates the tonality of the composition. |
6 |
Time signature | The time signature indicates the underlying rhythmic patterns that will be used in the composition. |
7 |
Ledger lines | The ledger lines provides a method to indicate pitches above and below the staff. |
8 |
Barline | The barline separates rhythmic note groupings based on the meter signature. |
9 |
Double bar | The double bar is used to indicate a change in the composition such as a change of key or change of meter. It also can be used as a convenient location for an ensemble to start in a rehearsal setting. |
10 |
Final barline | The final barline indicates the end of the composition (or in some cases a movement of a composition). |
