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I.1Part I, The Signs of Notation
The Staff
Here you'll learn the main signs used to write music, and how to find your way around the lines and spaces of the staff.
5 min7 questionsDanhauser § 2 to 6
Music is written with signs placed on the staff, which British English calls the stave. There are four main signs:
the notes, which show the durations and pitches of sounds;
the clefs, which give the notes their names;
the rests, which mark interruptions of sound;
the accidentals: the sharp, the flat and the natural.
They are all placed on the staff, so let's look at it now.
Five lines, four spaces
The staff is made of five horizontal lines, parallel and equidistant, which simply means equally spaced.
Lines are always counted from the bottom up: the 1st line is the lowest, and the 5th is the highest. The gap between two lines is called a space. Spaces are also counted from the bottom up: the 1st space lies between the 1st and 2nd lines, the 2nd space between the 2nd and 3rd lines, and so on.
Each note marks one position. Lines and spaces alternate, from low at the bottom to high at the top.
Exercisein the method's spirit
Draw a staff and number each line and each space, as in the example above.
Solution
From the bottom up: 1st line, 1st space, 2nd line, 2nd space, 3rd line, 3rd space, 4th line, 4th space, 5th line. In the answer, L stands for line and S for space.
Now that you know where the signs are written, the next lesson turns to the notes themselves and their shapes.
Check your understanding
7 questions
1.
How many lines does the staff have?
2.
How many spaces does the staff have?
3.
In which direction are lines and spaces numbered?
4.
The 3rd space lies between:
5.
Where is the note below placed?
6.
Where is the note below placed?
7.
Which of these signs is NOT one of Danhauser's four main signs?
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