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What Is a Staff?

See how five lines and four spaces turn pitch into a picture.

Grade 1 foundationsLesson 2 of 3Read and practise without an account

Meet the staff

Five lines, four spaces

A staff has five horizontal lines and four spaces between them. A line passes through the centre of a line note; a space note sits in a gap.

What to notice: The first note is on a line. The second note is in a space.

Which note is in a space?

Count from the bottom

Lines and spaces have separate numbers

Five lines
Four spaces

Count the lines 1 to 5 upwards from the bottom line. Start again at 1 for the spaces and count upwards to 4.

What to notice: A line note and the space immediately above it have the same position number.

Which line holds this note?

Follow the direction

Climbing and falling

Rising pitch, then falling pitch

Read music from left to right. Higher staff positions mean higher pitches; lower positions mean lower pitches. A move from a line to the neighbouring space is a step.

Recap

Position shows pitch

The first two notes have the same pitch. The third rises a step and the fourth returns. Rule: read left to right, count staff positions from the bottom.

Bring it together

In this lesson, you explored:

  • Distinguish a line note from a space note.
  • Number lines and spaces from the bottom.
  • Follow pitch direction.

Completion records that you worked through the lesson, not a test score.

Next: Reading the Treble Clef