Pitch Names and Clefs LIE A "STAFF" scheme consists of five lines and four spaces. The alphabet from A to G is used to denote basic pitch names (A-B-C-D-E-F-G). Because the treble clef, also known as the G clef, marks the second line of the staff as "G," the lines are named: I!! II!! III IV V VI VII VIII 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24. In addition to these lines, some staffs have a sixth line called the bass clef. This marks the base of the fifth string on the guitar. It can be thought of as the low E clef for guitars. The term "staff" comes from the old harpsichords and pianos, which had wooden cases with holes at certain points to allow for the attachment of strings. There were five sets of strings on such instruments, two of them played with the left hand and three with the right. To help players read music from notation, musicians assigned letters to each string category: bass, melody, counter-melody, treble. In modern times, the term "staff" has been adopted to describe any one of the five parts of a piano keyboard. The notes within each part can be indicated by various symbols: key signatures, accidentals, tempo markings, etc. These will be discussed in more detail under Key Signatures and Accidentals.