Bass Staff and Grand Staff
Primary 6 · Creative Arts
Bass Staff and Grand Staff
Lesson 3 of 4
30 min
Let's begin
Umutoni opens her first piano book. Every line of music has two staves at once, joined at the left by a big curly bracket. "Which one do I read?" she asks.
"Both," says her teacher. "One for each hand."
When one player needs both high and low notes, as on the piano, we join a treble staff and a bass staff together. Together they make the grand staff (British books call it the great stave).
Middle C sits exactly between the two staves. It can be written in two places:
Both are the same note: the C nearest the middle of the piano keyboard. The composer chooses the staff for the hand that plays it. Middle C for the right hand usually hangs under the treble staff, and middle C for the left hand sits over the bass staff.
The grand staff is like one long ladder with middle C as the rung in the middle. Here is the C scale from the C below middle C, through middle C, up to the C above:
Look at the C at each end: the low C in space 2 of the bass staff, and the high C in space 3 of the treble staff. Each one is an octave (eight notes, counting both ends) away from middle C.
The keys to the left of middle C are usually written on the bass staff and played by the left hand. The keys from middle C to the right are usually written on the treble staff and played by the right hand.
Tip
Middle C is the bridge. It hangs just under the treble staff or sits just over the bass staff, on one little ledger line, and it is the same note either way.
Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.
Which staff of the grand staff does the right hand usually read?
Answer: The treble staff, on top.
What joins the two staves of a grand staff at the left?
Answer: A curly brace and a straight line.
Where is middle C written on the bass staff?
Answer: On a ledger line just above the bass staff.
What note is one step below middle C, and where is it written on the bass staff?
Answer: B, in the space just above the top line.
Count the notes from the C in space 2 of the bass staff up to middle C, counting both Cs. How many are there?
Answer: 8 notes: C D E F G A B C. That distance is an octave.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
The piano-book story, the diagrams and the practice questions were written by Ganzaa. The bass clef in the diagrams was drawn by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
On the grand staff, where is middle C written?
