staff

staff in musical notation, a set of horizontal lines upon and between which notes are written so as to determine their relative pitch, and in connection with a clef, their absolute pitch. Staffs with several lines survive from the late 9th cent., the lines denoting only pitches. In early attempts at the notation of plainsong, a single line was drawn, with neumes placed above and below it, giving a rough idea of the relative pitches of the tones. Guido d'Arezzo, in the 11th cent., used several lines and put letters on certain of them to indicate their pitch, thus foreshadowing the use of the clef (see musical notation ). Four-line staffs proved adequate for plainsong notation and are still employed for that purpose. In 16th-century keyboard music, staffs of six or seven lines were often employed, but later the five-line staff, with ledger lines for pitches outside the range provided for by the staff, became conventional.

staff (stave, plural staves). The system of parallel lines on and between which the notes are written, from which mus. is played, the pitch being determined by the clef written at the beginning of the staff. Normally of 5 lines, but plainsong uses a staff of 4 lines. In medieval tablature a 6- or even 7-line staff was used. ‘Staff notation’ means ordinary notation as distinct from Tonic Sol-fa, etc. See also great staff.

staff n.
1. a group of officers assisting an officer in command of an army formation or administration headquarters.

2. usually Staff short for staff sergeant.
v. (usually be staffed) provide (an organization, business, etc.) with staff: (staffed) all units are fully staffed.