Each line and space of the staff may be assigned a note name. These note
names are the same as the first seven letters of the alphabet (A, B, C, D, E,
F, and G) and together are called the musical alphabet. Despite the large
number of notes that can be produced by musical instruments, only seven
note names are needed because the eighth note, called the octave, has the
same sound as the first, but higher in pitch, and therefore uses the same
letter name as the first note. The octave is both the end of the first set of
notes and the beginning of the next. So the music alphabet goes from A to
G, and then starts over. Different instruments are capable of producing
sounds in different ranges of pitch, some in many different octaves and
some in only a few, but all of these pitches are notated with the same seven
letter names.
Because different instruments produce higher or lower ranges of pitch,
the staff can be made to represent different ranges of pitch by means of a
clef sign. The two most usual clef signs are treble clef, which is used to
notate higher-pitched sounds (e.g. the guitar, the right hand of the
keyboard), and bass clef, which is used to notate lower-pitched sounds
(e.g., the bass, the left hand of the keyboard).
The location of the note names is determined by the clef placed at the
beginning of the staff. The following example uses the treble clef. The
treble clef, also known as the G clef, locates G above ‘middle C’ on the
second line of the staff.
=&====v=w=x=y=z={=|==
G A B C D E FThe bass clef (also called the F clef) locates F below ‘middle C’ on the
fourth line of the staff.
= ̄====u=v=w=x=y=z={==
A B C D E F GBecause the keyboard uses both the treble and bass clef, the two clefs and
two staves are used together, one placed above the other, to form the grand