NotePlayMusicWhat Is a Staff?
See how five lines and four spaces turn pitch into a picture.
Grade 1 foundations · Read 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
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
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.