Music Signs Basic

The employees
The staff is the basis of written music. The notes are then presented. It consists of 5 lines
with four spaces between them. A simple, unadorned staff is shown below.
The employees
Keys
Treble Staff
This is the triple staff. The treble clef (the big fancy symbol on the far left) shows the
musician that the staff is a treble clef. Because it curls around the G-line, it is also known as
a treble clef. The staff starts with the first line as E. Each consecutive space and line is the
next letter in the musical alphabet. The staff ends with the last line as an F. Many
mnemonics exist to help a person remember which line and space is which. One of the most
common phrases to remember the names of the rules is: Every Good Boy Does Fine. (Also
popular is Elvis' Guitar Broke Down Friday). To remember the spaces, remember that they
spell FACE from the bottom.
bass staff
This is the bass (pronounced 'base') staff. The bass clef, also called the F clef because it
finds the line F, is on the far left. The bass clef uses the same musical alphabet as the treble,
but the letters start in different places. Instead of an E, the bottom line is a G, and the letters
continue logically from there. Again, simple mnemonics can be used to remember the names
of the notes. The lines on the bass gap, from bottom to top, are: G, B, D, F, A (Good Boys
Don't Fight Everyone), and the squares are A,C,E,G (All Cows Eat Grass).
Some rarer keys.
This is a C key. The C clef can move on the staff and the center of the symbol is always
above middle C. Depending on where it is, it is given different names. The note next to each
clef is middle C. These clefs are very rarely used.
The Great Staff
The Great Staff
When the bass and treble clefs are combined and connected by a brace (left) and lines, they
become the great staff. This greatly expands the range of pitches that can be noticed, and is
often used in piano music, due to the piano's wide range.
Measures
Measure Markers
The vertical lines on the staff mark the measures. Measures are used to divide and organize
music. The time signature determines how many beats there can be in a measure. The thick
double bars mark the beginning and end of a piece of music. Measures are sometimes
marked with numbers to make navigating through a lot easier. The first size would be size
one, the second size two and so on.
Comments:
Different places are named with letters. The musical alphabet is, in ascending order of pitch,
A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. After G, the cycle repeats and returns to A. Each line and space on
the staff represents a different pitch. The lower the staff, the lower the pitch of the note.
Notes are represented by small ovals on the staff. Depending on the key (discussed below),
the position of each note on the staff corresponds to a letter name.
Comments written on the staff
Notes on staff
Notes are centered on the lines or in the spaces between the lines. Stems on notes above
the middle line run down from the left side of the note. Stems on notes below the center line
stick up to the right of the note. Stems on notes on the line usually go down, except when
adjacent notes have flags going up. Note stems are usually one octave (eight consecutive
lines and spaces) long. When two melodies occupy the same staff, the stems for the notes in
one melody are written down and the stems for the notes in the other.
General ledger rules
Ledger lines above and below the staff
Ledger lines extend above and below the staff, allowing for higher or lower notes than would
otherwise fit on the staff. These lines follow the same musical alphabet pattern as the staff.
Think of them as just extra lines and spaces at the end of the staff.
The stems of banknotes on ledger lines extend up or down to the center line.
Note duration
All notes have length. However, the number of beats they get depends on the time signature,
so only the relative note duration is discussed here.
Hierarchy of note lengths
This figure shows a hierarchy of note values.
At the top is a whole note (1). A half note is half the duration of a whole note, so a whole
note is the same length as two half notes (2). Likewise, a half note is the same length as two
quarter notes (3). A quarter note is as long as two eighth notes (4), and an eighth note is as
long as two sixteenth notes (5).
Sixteenth notes and

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The employees

Some rarer keys.

The Great Staff

The Great Staff

Comments written on the staff

General ledger rules

Ledger lines above and below the staff

Hierarchy of note lengths

This figure shows a hierarchy of note values.

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