Staff (music)
In
The absolute pitch of each line of a non-percussive staff is indicated by the placement of a
The lines and spaces are numbered from bottom to top; the bottom line is the first line and the top line is the fifth line.
The musical staff is analogous to a mathematical graph of pitch with respect to time. Pitches of notes are given by their vertical position on the staff and notes are played from left to right. Unlike a graph, however, the number of semitones represented by a vertical step from a line to an adjacent space depends on the key, and the exact timing of the beginning of each note is not directly proportional to its horizontal position; rather, exact timing is encoded by the musical symbol chosen for each note in addition to the tempo.
A time signature to the right of the clef indicates the relationship between timing counts and note symbols, while bar lines group notes on the staff into measures.
Usage and etymology
Staff is more common than stave in both American English and British English,[7] with the latter being, in fact, a back-formation from the plural staves.[8] The plural staffs also exists for staff in both American and British English, alongside the traditional plural staves.[1] In addition to the pronunciations expected from the spellings, both plural forms are also pronounced /stævz/ in American English.[2]
Staff positions
The vertical position of the notehead on the staff indicates which note to play: higher-pitched notes are marked higher on the staff. The notehead can be placed with its center intersecting a line (on a line) or in between the lines touching the lines above and below (in a space). Notes outside the range of the staff are placed on or between ledger lines—lines the width of the note they need to hold—added above or below the staff.
Which staff positions represent which
Ensemble staves
A vertical line drawn to the left of multiple staves creates a system, indicating that the music on all the staves is to be played simultaneously. A brace (curly bracket) is used to join multiple staves that represent an instrument, such as a piano, organ, harp, or marimba.[9] A bracket is an additional vertical line joining staves to show groupings of instruments that function as a unit, such as the string section of an orchestra. Sometimes a second bracket is used to show instruments grouped in pairs, such as the first and second oboes or first and second violins in an orchestra.[10] In some cases, a brace is used for this purpose.[9][11]
When more than one system appears on a page, often two parallel diagonal strokes are placed on the left side of the score to separate them.[12]
Four-part SATB vocal settings, especially in hymnals, use a divisi notation on a two-staff system with soprano and alto voices sharing the upper staff and tenor and bass voices on the lower staff.
Confusingly, the German System (often in the combined forms Liniensystem or Notensystem) may refer to a single staff as well as to the Akkolade (from the French) or system in the English sense; the Italian term is accollatura.[12][13]
Grand staff
When music on two staves is joined by a
History
Early Western medieval notation was written with neumes, which did not specify exact pitches but only the shape of the melodies, i.e. indicating when the musical line went up or down; presumably these were intended as mnemonics for melodies which had been taught by rote.
During the 9th through 11th centuries a number of systems were developed to specify pitch more precisely, including diastematic neumes whose height on the page corresponded with their absolute pitch level (Longobardian and Beneventan manuscripts from Italy show this technique around the year 1000). Digraphic notation, using letter names similar to modern
The treatise
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c "staff" in the Collins English Dictionary: "in British English: also called: stave; plural: staffs or staves"
- ^ a b "staff" in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
- ^ "stave Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
- ISBN 978-3-031-47281-7.
- ^ "Dolmetsch Online - Chart of Musical Symbols". www.dolmetsch.com. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
- ^ "How To Read The Notes On The Pentagram » The Art Of Playing". 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
- ^ Ngram Viewer
- ^ Pam Peters, The Cambridge Guide to English Usage, p. 514.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57467-049-3. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-486-26350-2. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-486-27725-7. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ^ description in the German language Wikipedia
- ^ Harvard Dictionary of Music (2nd edition, 1972): Neume, Staff
Further reading
- Haines, John (2008). "The Origins of the Musical Staff". JSTOR 20534535.
External links
- Dolmetsch Online: Printable PDF files of musical staff (A4 size)
- Audio Graffiti Free Manuscript Paper: Printable PDF files of musical staff (A4 and Letter size; standard, TAB and more; with or without clefs)
- Printable files of musical staff in PDF and PostScript formats provided by Perry Roland of Alderman Library at The University of Virginia
- Customizable Manuscript Paper: Customizable staff paper in varying dimensions, staff heights, thicknesses, and margins in PDF format