4

I've understood that staff is one system of 5 note lines and the term for both systems (l. & r. h. keyboard) is grand staff, is this correct? ... while in a full score would be several staves?

Improve this question
0

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5

Your understanding of staff and grand staff are correct.

And while full score is a collection of various staves, we often group these several staves of concurrent music together with the name "system." A system is just the collection of all instruments playing at a given time; in an orchestral score, a system may take up an entire page, but on a piano score, there could be several systems of music on a single page.

enter image description here

Improve this answer
6
  • There seem to be some differences in the meaning of this terms between the British and the USA language. Doesn't this point concern the tag "history" I ask because there is a proposing to edit the history-tag.
    – Albrecht Hügli
    Commented Feb 11, 2020 at 11:01
  • Perhaps bizarrely, on NinSheetMusic, a website of video game music transcriptions that I contribute to, the understanding of the word "system" is that it means a single line of measures (regardless of how many instruments it involves). Sometimes, I read comments there such as "I believe 5 systems on Page 1 is too crowded. Try 4 systems instead."
    – Dekkadeci
    Commented Feb 11, 2020 at 11:55
  • @Dekkadeci Yes, I've seen "system" used for single-line instruments, too. I tried to incorporate this in my definition, with "all instruments playing at a given time" also encompassing just one instrument.
    – Richard
    Commented Feb 11, 2020 at 12:14
  • :) So we had another question: what is in music notation a "system"? Well, in German "Notensystem" means a staff of 5 lines.
    – Albrecht Hügli
    Commented Feb 11, 2020 at 14:01
  • 4
    @AlbrechtHügli the only difference I'm familiar with between the UK and the US is that the UK prefers the back-formed singular "stave" while the US prefers the original singular "staff." (The f-to-v sound change is analogous to that in life/lives, hoof/hooves, and half/halves.) In the US, at least, we also use "system."
    – phoog
    Commented Feb 11, 2020 at 14:21

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.