- Definition
The staff is the set of five lines and four spaces where musical notes are written. It's like a musical roadmap that tells you how to play a song.
A note placed on the bottom line of the staff tells a musician to play a different sound than a note placed in the top space.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: The staff is like the monkey bars at the playground, where notes can hang on the lines or sit in the spaces between them.
Ask your child: How many lines do you see for the notes to live on?
Common mix-up: Kids often focus only on the five lines. The four spaces between the lines are just as important for placing notes and telling you which sound to play.
Examples
- The five lines you see running across a page in a piano lesson book.
- A note in the space at the very top of the staff is a higher sound than a note on the line at the very bottom.
staff is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
