Staff (music)

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In Western musical notation, the staff (UK usually stave); (plural: staves), also occasionally referred to as a pentagram, is a set of horizontal lines (usually five) with spaces between them, that each represent a different musical pitch. However, in the case of a percussion staff, there may be from one to five (or perhaps more) lines which denote different percussion instruments, as may the spaces in between. In guitar tabs there are up to six (or perhaps more) lines denoting different strings. Appropriate music symbols, depending on the intended effect, are placed on the staff with the vertical position showing their pitch, percussion instrument or string, and the horizontal position showing their approximate location in time. The absolute pitch of each line of a pitched staff is indicated by the placement of a clef symbol at the appropriate vertical position on the left-hand side of the staff (possibly modified by conventions for specific instruments). For example, the treble clef,...

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