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Five horizontal lines on which notes are placed to show pitch.
Also known as: Stave, Five lines music, Music lines
Five lines and the four spaces between them carry pitch by vertical position. The staff means nothing on its own — a clef has to say what one of its lines is before any note can be read.
Carries pitch by vertical position: each line and each space is one step of the scale from its neighbour.
Contexts: Music
Is meaningless without a clef, which fixes what one of its lines represents and so anchors every other position.
Contexts: Music
Is extended by short ledger lines for notes beyond its range, drawn only where a note actually sits.
Contexts: Music
Settled at five lines over several centuries, having varied between one and many in earlier notation.
Contexts: Music
Five evenly spaced horizontal lines running the width of the page, with four spaces between them of equal height.
Bar lines divide the staff.
The staff carries the notes; the clef says what its lines mean.