Note Names

At this point we must take a minute to talk about note names. Note names start at ‘A’ and go through to ‘G’. There is no ‘H’ in music (at least not in English music). Instead, the note names go back to A again. Below is a keyboard with all of the note names for the white keys (we’ll get to the black keys later). The note names go from A to G, regardless of the instrument – it’s just visually easier to demonstrate on a keyboard.

The Staff

The staff is a set of (usually) five horizontal lines. It is used primarily to indicate pitch. Higher notes are placed higher on the staff. Notes can be placed in the four spaces between the lines as well as on the five lines. Lines and spaces are usually numbered from the bottom up. The range of the staff may be extended by use of ledger lines.

The Staff