Five Lines, Four Spaces
Music is written on a set of five horizontal lines called a staff (or stave). The staff is like a ladder for musical notes — notes placed higher on the staff sound higher in pitch, and notes placed lower on the staff sound lower.
The five lines create four spaces between them. Notes can sit ON a line (the line goes through the middle of the note) or IN a space (the note fits between two lines). Each line and each space represents a different musical note.
We number the lines from bottom to top: line 1 (bottom), line 2, line 3, line 4, line 5 (top). The spaces are numbered the same way: space 1 (bottom), space 2, space 3, space 4 (top).
As you go up the staff from bottom to top, the notes get higher in pitch. As you go down, the notes get lower. It is like a musical map that shows you exactly which notes to play!