free staff paper you can print
make blank sheet music as a PDF. pick A4 or US Letter, a treble, bass or grand staff (or plain staves with no clef), the staff size and how many staves go on each page. the file is made in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
- choose treble, bass, grand staff or no clef, and the staff size.
- download a PDF and print it at actual size.
- free, made in your browser, with no account.
make your staff paper
how to use it
- choose the paper your printer takes. A4 is standard in most of the world; US Letter is standard in the United States and Canada.
- choose a clef. treble suits flute, violin, trumpet, clarinet, saxophones, guitar and the right hand of piano. bass suits cello, bassoon, trombone, tuba, bass guitar and the left hand of piano. the grand staff joins both with a brace, the way piano, harp and keyboard music is written.
- choose a staff size. the table below shows how many staves fit on a page at each size.
- leave "staves per page" empty to get as many as fit with room for ledger lines, or type a smaller number for more space between them.
- download the PDF and print it at "actual size", with no scaling. "fit to page" shrinks the staves and changes the size you picked.
which staff size to pick
staff size is the distance from the top line to the bottom line. bigger staves are easier to write in by hand; smaller ones fit more music on a page.
| size | staff height | single staves per A4 page | grand staves per A4 page | good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| small | 6 mm | 16 | 8 | sketching ideas, chord charts with a melody line |
| medium | 7.5 mm | 12 | 7 | most handwriting, theory homework, parts |
| large | 9.5 mm | 10 | 5 | beginners, dictation exercises, writing with a pen |
| extra large | 13 mm | 7 | 4 | young learners, large-print copies, teaching on a wall |
US Letter is a little shorter than A4, so it fits the same number of staves or one fewer.
when to choose no clef
plain staves are useful when you want to practise drawing clefs yourself, when a part needs a clef the generator does not draw (alto clef for viola, tenor clef for cello or trombone), or when you need lined staves for a percussion part and will add your own clef.
printing tips
the staff lines are solid black, so photocopies and scans stay sharp. heavier paper, around 100 gsm or 24 lb, takes pencil and erasing without tearing. if you print double-sided, check that your printer is not adding its own margins, which can push the bottom staff off the page.
from paper to a finished score
paper is still the quickest way to catch an idea. when it is ready to share, notei is a free music notation editor that runs in the browser, with nothing to install. you enter notes with the computer keyboard or the mouse and hear them played on sampled instruments. you can export a PDF, MusicXML or MIDI file; the PDF is watermarked on the free plan and clean on notei+.
common questions
is this staff paper free to print?
yes. the generator makes a PDF in your browser, with no account and no watermark, and you can print as many copies as you like for practice, lessons or composing.
what is the difference between a staff and a grand staff?
a staff is one set of five lines. a grand staff joins a treble staff and a bass staff with a brace, as in piano music, so it covers both hands. pick grand staff for piano, harp or organ.
how many staves fit on one page?
it depends on the staff size. smaller staves fit more on a page, which suits sketching; larger staves are easier for young students to write on. the size table above lists what each choice is for.
can I write on staff paper and then make it a digital score?
yes, by entering the notes into a notation editor afterwards. writing by hand first is a good way to learn; the how to write sheet music guide covers the rules for both.
sources
- Open Music Theory: introduction to Western musical notation
- Open Music Theory: the keyboard and the grand staff
the staff paper generator is free, and notei, our product, publishes it. when a sketch is ready to share, notei's notation editor plays it back and exports it as PDF, MusicXML or MIDI; see also the music notation glossary and the circle of fifths.
sketched something worth keeping? put it into a real score you can play back and share.
write it in notei