The five-line staff

Key idea The staff has 5 lines and 4 spaces. Higher on the staff means higher in pitch, and each step from a line to the next space is the next note name.

Lines are counted from the bottom: line 1 is lowest, line 5 is highest. Spaces count up too, 1 to 4. A note sits either on a line (the line runs through its head) or in a space (between two lines).

Moving from a line to the space just above is one step: the next white key. Moving from one line to the next line is a skip: you jump over one white key.