Notes and Staff

NOTES
are arranged on the staff according to their pitch or how high or low the sound is. In the example below, the notes' position tells the reader that each note is higher in pitch than the note before it.

STAFF
A staff is a group of 5 lines. Each line, and the 4 spaces between the lines, represents a different musical pitch, or note.

One way to remember the names of the notes is to use a mnemotic, or "memory helper" such as the word "FACE" to help you remember the names of the notes on the spaces of the staff.

The notes are named with letters, from "A" to "G". In the example below, you can see how each note, as you read from left to right, is one step higher than the previous note. You might notice that in this example, there are three notes named "A". Each "A" from left to right is one octave higher than the "A" before.

The notes on the lines can be remembered by the above silly phrase (Elephants Get Big Dirty Feet). Or, make up your own mnemotic to help you remember the names of the notes on the lines!

The open strings - G is the lowest, or farthest to the left, if you are holding the violin.

The open strings - c is the lowest, or farthest to the left, if you are holding the viola.