Standard notation allows composers to link two or more staves (plural of staff) to form a staff system. Two or more linked staves are joined by a symbol called a brace. Composers use staff systems for two main reasons:
- To notate music that requires more than one instrument, such as a duet for voice and guitar. Pieces that require many instruments, such as string quartets or jazz combos, can include many linked staves, which together are called a score.
- To notate music for instruments whose range of notes covers more than one staff, such as the piano.
The Grand Staff
The most popular staff system in Western music is the grand staff, which is regularly used to notate piano music. The grand staff consists of a treble staff (a staff with a treble clef) and a bass staff (a staff with a bass clef) joined by a brace. Almost all instruments in Western music are notated with either the treble or bass clef, but the piano has such a wide pitch range that it requires composers to use both the treble and bass clefs. On the piano, treble staff notes are played with the right hand, while bass staff notes are played with the left.
Knowing how to read the notes of the grand staff will enable you to read music for almost any instrument, in addition to the piano. For instance, if you can read the entire grand staff, you can read music for guitar, clarinet, and flute (all notated in a treble clef), and music for cello, trombone, and bassoon (all notated in a bass clef), as well as music written for dozens of other instruments.
The Notes of the Grand Staff
Just as it’s helpful to learn to read the notes of the grand staff even if you don’t intend to play piano, it’s also helpful to learn those notes in the context of the piano keyboard. That way, you can see which notes correspond to the lines and spaces of the treble and bass clef as well as how the sequence of the seven main notes (from A to G) repeats over several octaves. The image below shows just the middle portion of the piano keyboard—roughly three octaves out of the piano’s total of just over seven octaves.
Middle C
The note marked middle C is the point at which the pitches of the treble and bass clefs overlap—its pitch is exactly the same, whether it’s notated on the treble staff or the bass staff. Middle C is also roughly the centermost key on the piano. When learning to read music, musicians often use middle C as a reference point since it’s easy to find on the staff. Because of its central position on the keyboard and the grand staff, middle C has come to symbolize the center, or anchor, of Western music.
How to Remember the Notes on the Grand Staff
Musicians rely on a few well-known mnemonic devices to help them memorize the notes represented by each line and space on the grand staff. Each of these mnemonic devices is an acronym that proceeds from the bottom line or space to the top line or space.