Ploddings

What Is the Music Staff?

For composers, the music staff is simply 5 lines, with 4 spaces, upon which musical notes are drawn.

If notes are drawn on higher lines (or spaces), the pitch is higher. If notes are drawn on lower lines (or spaces), the pitch is lower.

Musical Clefs

Those lines and spaces of the music staff might look unfamiliar, because they're missing a crucial component — the "clef"!

Clefs tell you the "register" (or "range") of the notes, and they're drawn on the music staff.

For example, the Treble Clef (the swirly symbol) is for higher pitched instruments like guitars, while the Bass Clef (the "ear-like" symbol) is for lower pitched instruments like basses.

Reading The Treble Clef

Remember how the music staff tells you the "pitch" of notes?

Those pitches have alphabetical names, which are the "notes names".

Here are a 2 ways to remember the treble clef's note names.

Mnemonics

Using a phrase or acronym, you can hack your brain to remember the Treble Clef's note names.

Lines

The lines on the treble clef represent the notes, E, G, B, D and F. You can remember them with the saying, "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge"'

Spaces

The spaces on the treble clef represent the notes F, A, C and E. You can remember them with the mnemonic, "FACE"

The "G" Note

Another way to remember the treble clef's note names is by using the "G" note as a reference (to find the other notes).

That swirly treble clef symbol encircles the line where the "G" note lives.

From there, you can manually count the lines and spaces, in alphabetical order — no mnemonics needed!