Is it called a staff or a stave?

A commenter on my previous video was surprised to hear me call these lines of music a staff rather than a stave. Which name is correct?

Today let’s talk about why we have two names for the exact same thing.

A brief summary of the video is below.

Summary

The reason we have two names for the lines we write music on is due to the evolution of language.

Originally, the set of lines was called a staff. But in piano music, we don’t usually read just one staff at a time. In piano, we tend to use two lines of music: one line for the notes above middle C and one line for the notes below middle C. Here’s what the combined set looks like.

The plural of staff is staves, so it would be appropriate for us to refer to these as two staves of music. Over time, it became common in some parts of the world to start to referring to one line of music as a stave. In other parts of the world, like Canada where I’m from, we still use the term “staff” to refer to one line of music and reserve the word staves for when we’re talking about two lines of music.

So in my videos, you’ll be hearing me use the word “staff”!

Whether you refer to these lines of music as a staff or a stave, both terms mean the exact same thing, and are equally accepted in the musical community.

What area of the world are you in, and what do you call these lines of music: a staff or stave? Comment below and let me know!