Learning Objectives
- Examine how pitches are notated on the staff—a notational system using lines and spaces.
The Staff I: Introduction
Notation
Each of the world's cultures have developed its own forms of language and music. Like language, music has a written tradition as well as an oral one. In some cultures, music is transmitted and preserved principally through an oral tradition, and is not written down. But other cultures have developed systems of music notation to represent musical sounds and the interpretation of those sounds.
A music notation system is a collection of symbols that people use to represent musical sounds. Think of it as a set of written instructions or as a blueprint for performance. A musical score serves two main purposes: first, to preserve the musical practices and traditions of a people or culture; and second, to allow people to recreate musical works by following the directions that someone else has committed to paper. Music notation can therefore be thought of as a form of communication between musicians (ordinarily between a composer and a performer).
Music notation also refers to the writing of notes. Depending on the historical era and culture under consideration, the representation of musical notes has taken on many different forms. In recent centuries, the standard method of notation in most Western music cultures has been staff notation. However, other forms of notation have also been used. For example, music for stringed instruments sometimes uses tablature, a system of notation which places symbols on parallel lines representing the strings of the instrument. Some contemporary music uses quite imaginative and artistic forms of graphic notation that omit written notes altogether. But in this course, we will be focusing on the traditional staff notation of Western music. For further discussion of alternative music notation systems, please visit musicnotation.org.
The Staff
The staff consists of five parallel horizontal lines and the four spaces between them. Musical notes are written on the staff, representing different pitches. The notehead is the oval-shaped part of a musical note. Noteheads can be placed either on the lines or in the spaces of the staff, as illustrated below:
| Lines and spaces on the staff |
Some noteheads are filled in and some are not, and some noteheads have stems and flags attached to them. These are details of music notation that we will return to in our rhythm unit. For now, we will generally use open noteheads on the staff, without any stems or flags.
In the following lessons, you will see and hear how notes are placed on the staff to represent specific pitches.